


Alone in the World

by TheLateNightStoryTeller



Series: Stories from a Parallel Universe [3]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: And Fitz is fine, And Hydra isn't such a big problem, Contains Gifted characters, F/M, Multi, Post season 1 AU where Fitz and Simmons are together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-12
Updated: 2014-11-12
Packaged: 2018-02-25 02:36:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 22,698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2605466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheLateNightStoryTeller/pseuds/TheLateNightStoryTeller
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set in a future non-canon universe after the season 1 finale where Fitz and Simmons are together.<br/>The team gets a mission to investigate a series of robberies by a group of young adults with superhuman powers. When it is revealed that one of them is Donnie Gill, Fitz struggles to understand what happened to him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Bad Choices

**Author's Note:**

> This story takes place in a non-canon universe after the finale where Fitz and Simmons are together and Fitz is pretty much recovered. They have been together for only a few months.
> 
> I put a reference to the science fiction show Fringe in every chapter of every one of my stories (usually) so feel free to look out for it if you want even if you don't know what Fringe is. It may stick out as something unusual like a polka dotted cow or pet badgers. ;). Sometimes it is also a line from the show I like or the title of an episode.

Jemma and Skye waited quietly outside of Leo's bunk. Skye had a finger to her lips and Jemma was trying very hard not to giggle.

"This may actually work against me you know," she told Skye, even though she was grinning. "If he gets scared for the rest of the night it's going to be me he'll be bothering over the walkie talkies."

"You still have those?" Skye asked, raising her eyebrows, a hint of concern in her expression.

"Not for the nightmares," Jemma assured her, scrunching her nose and shaking her head to show she wasn't worried about their return. "Those have stopped, mostly. It's just... nice to have someone to talk too. I think we got used to being a quick flick of a switch away from each other."

There was a loud, high pitched scream from Leo's room. "Jemma!" he called irritably and they giggled together. "Oh yes, really funny you two." He grumbled, stepping into the hallway holding an incredibly creepy baby doll out towards them accusingly. "Is this why you wanted to watch that movie last night?"

He scowled as they continued to laugh at him.

"You should have heard yourself," Skye chuckled. "Besides you started this."

"With the mop in the closet?" he asked, frowning. "That wasn't nearly as terrifying as..." he held up the doll and shook it. "This."

"Simmons screamed almost as loud as you though," Skye objected, laughing and now Jemma turned to her offended.

"Well it was scary," she put in. "All I wanted was a fresh roll of paper towels and I was... attacked-"

"It wasn't suppose to hit you," Leo interrupted defensively. "You weren't suppose to stick your face in first."

"I was just popping my head in to see if we had any near the door," she defended. "Oh don't look like that Fitz, I wasn't mad at you. It didn't hurt, it just surprised me."

"Then why the retaliation?" he demanded, shaking the doll again so that it's bald head flipped back and forth.

"Because it was fun," Skye laughed and Jemma nodded, smiling.

"The mop isn't going to give you nightmares," Leo muttered, glaring at the doll.

"You can always call me if you're scared," Jemma assured him, narrowing her eyes sympathetically and tilting her head before giving him a quick peck then blushing as she sent Skye a nervous sideways glance.

She wasn't sure exactly what was appropriate in front of their teammates which was hard, especially for Jemma who was far more comfortable following the rules. Her and Leo being together would have probably been altogether prohibited before... well before Shield fell, however the old rules had been tossed into the air. On top of that Coulson, their team leader, was the lead of the entire organization now and he'd given them a free pass so long as they kept up their efficiency.

Actually it was more of a trial. Stay efficient, stay professional when you need to be and don't break any of the rules and you can call each other whatever you want. Best friend, partner, boyfriend, he could be any of them and all of them just as long as they followed the rules. The problem was, their leader hadn't been incredibly clear on what exactly those rules were.

Skye didn't seem bothered by her display of affection (though she did have a history of being a bad girl, a rebel) and it cheered Leo up right away, pinking his cheeks and causing the corners of his mouth to turn up in a wide grin even as he mumbled that he wasn't scared, so she didn't regret it.

"Besides Fitz it's Halloween," Skye reminded him. "You're suppose to get scared."

"Well you haven't been frightened yet," Jemma pointed out, crossing her arms and turning to stand beside Leo who mimicked her pose, a mischievous smile forming on both their faces.

"We haven't heard the cry of a terrified Skye this Halloween evening," Leo agreed.

"That doesn't seem fair does it?" Jemma asked him as they exchanged a glance.

"No, it doesn't," he concurred.

"You guys think you can scare me?" Skye challenged, raising an eyebrow, amused.

"Of course we can," "Definitely," they answered and she chuckled at them.

"Good luck with that," she wished them, patting Jemma's shoulder before passing them and heading to the kitchen. "I'm going to have some dinner before we get a case, Trip says crazy things go down tonight."

"OK," "Enjoy your dinner," They replied, waving goodbye.

"Challenge accepted," Leo whispered to Jemma as Skye walked away and she beamed at him. "But first can we..."

"You're hungry aren't you?" she guessed, shaking her head at him but kissing him once more, slowly this time because there was no one around to see, and feeling a small tingle in her chest.

She wasn't sure what he was at that exact moment, her best friend, her partner or her boyfriend.

Maybe a bit of all of them, she decided. Nothing in the world was truly separate from what was around it, not even her emotions. It was all mixed together and reacting and interacting, coming apart and coming together. Nothing and no one was truly alone in the world.

"It is dinner time," he reminded her, taking her hand which made her both happy and nervous because she wasn't sure if that was allowed. She should ask Coulson to make a list or a guide of some sort for them. "And I want to eat before it's too late. Skye's right, we're probably going to get a new mission tonight. People are always up to no good on Halloween."

/-/-/

The train was about to leave the station and people were taking their seats.

"Would you like some help with that sir?" a kind looking attendant offered as Donnie fumbled with his bag.

"Oh, umm... no I'm OK," he told her, gazing apprehensively at Kenzi who glared back at him before he remembered they weren't suppose to know each other.

Everything was fine, this woman had no reason to be suspicious of him. He took a breath to calm himself. "Thanks, but I got it." he insisted and she left.

He shook himself to clear his head before stuffing his luggage into the overhead compartment.

Kenzi bumped him roughly as she walked towards her seat. "Don't screw this up newbie," she hissed and her aggression hit him like slap.

He felt incredibly alone, even among allies but he tried not to think about that. He tried not to think about how much he still missed Seth, tried not to wonder what it would have been like if he hadn't died. Life was a lot harder without your best friend.

But this was his life now. This was what he wanted... he thought... and he would be furious with himself if he screwed it up.

He watched Dave help an older lady hoist up her carry on up into the overhead compartment and smiled when his new friend shot him a quick grin.

Dave, at least, he liked. He was far kinder than Kenzi and let Donnie call him by his normal name. Kenzi insisted on being called Kelvin, like the unit to measure temperature, and couldn't understand why he had trouble with that. He had trouble talking to her period, to most people, but he wasn't so bad with Dave. Or Whirlwind as Ke- Kelvin would call him.

She never called him Donnie. He was Blizzard to her. Which was weird but he wasn't sure how to complain about it without getting an earful about how he needed to leave his old life behind.

He watched the houses go by as they left the station, clicking along the tracks, and then the trees as they left the city for the woods between towns.

Were his hands shaking? That was strange, they were usually so steady. Well this was his first train robbery.

After they'd been traveling for around an hour he felt Kenzi tap him on the shoulder as she strolled by. It was time to begin.

He lay his head against the back of his seat and stared at the ceiling for a few seconds as he gathered up his courage. It wasn't too late to back out.

Yes it was. The others would track him down if he tried to run, he knew too much about them. He wasn't sure what exactly they'd do to him but he didn't want to find out so he rose to his feet and followed Kenzi and Dave up the train to first class.

"You aren't suppose to be up here," a security guard warned them as they filed into the car.

"We know," Kenzi told him before Dave began spinning like a human top.

It was incredible and Donnie still didn't understand entirely how he did it, but it made him fast enough to get behind the guard and slam into him, pushing him out of the car past him and Kenzi who moved to the side to let them through.

The door closed behind him and Donnie froze it shut, coating it in a thick layer of ice before dashing to do the door near the front.

People screamed and some moved towards the windows in a panic but Donnie glazed them over too, not wanting anyone to make the stupid mistake of trying to jump out, on top of preventing their escape.

"Shut up!" Kenzi shouted and the empty seat beside her erupted into flames. "Or you'll have to choose between chilled, spun or broiled." she threatened and the car fell silent. "Now give us all your valuables and we'll leave. Don't and..." another seat caught fire, melting the ice on the window beside it.

The passengers were extremely frightened by this and moved quickly to hand over their watches and wallets. Dave collected them in a bag, moving from seat to seat.

When they had stolen from everyone, Donnie took the device he had stored in his pocket and flipped a switch on the side. The train screeched as it halted, sending a few people toppling off their seats.

He wasn't just the one who froze the doors, Donnie had been an engineer longer than whatever he was now his new team valued all his skills.

Dave spun again, this time at the side of the train and punched a hole in it which they followed him through.

Kenzi lagged behind for a moment, to Donnie's horror setting fire to first class car.

"What are you doing?" he exclaimed, panicked, angry.

"Relax Blizzard, they'll be fine," she told him. "We need a distraction so we can get away."

Donnie exchanged an uneasy look with Dave. They may not be... maybe he should stay and help them.

"Hurry up you two, we're going to get caught standing here like a bunch of morons," she scolded and Donnie knew she was right so with one last glance at the burning car he turned away and followed them into the woods, back to the rest of their team.

/-/-/

Wasn't he right? Or wasn't Skye right... or Trip... well anyway they had a mission.

Coulson had called them into the meeting room halfway through his and Jemma's omelets. He'd scarfed his own down quickly but she had wrapped up hers for later and he wondered if she was regretting it now as she stood beside him while they were being briefed.

He worried a little that she was hungry and uncomfortable before Coulson's voice snapped him back to attention.

"A few hours ago a passenger train going from Westfield to New York was robbed," Coulson informed them, showing a picture of a burning train car on their screen.

"And they set it on fire?" Trip asked incredulously.

"Was everyone OK?" Skye wondered.

Coulson shook his head sadly. "There were two fatalities," he said quietly. "Two of the passengers were trapped inside and by the time they got them out it was too late."

"That's horrible," Jemma breathed and Leo nodded in agreement, feeling a pang of sorrow for the senseless loss of life.

"We believe that people with super-human abilities were involved." Coulson went on solemnly. "Witness descriptions were a match for three people who escaped from the sandbox."

"Escaped?" Leo interjected. "You mean they weren't there by choice? Were they criminals?"

"Shield was keeping an eye on them," Coulson explained and he found that made him a little uncomfortable but he didn't comment.

There was a time and place for raising questions like the ones he now had and it wasn't during a mission briefing.

"We've identified the suspects as Mackenzie Malikov, David Cannon and Donnie Gill," Coulson announced as their faces appeared on the screen.

Donnie? Donnie Gill? That same kid he'd met at the academy? It couldn't be, Donnie wasn't a bad person he had just been lost and feeling isolated. Like Leo himself had once been. He wasn't a murderer.

"Sir are you sure about-" he began.

"It's him Fitz," their leader asserted.

"But it's only an eye witness description," he argued, unable to keep the unhappiness from his voice. "How do you know for sure..."

"Fitz," Jemma soothed, touching his arm but he shook his head.

"They could have made a mistake," he insisted.

"I don't think so," Coulson said.

Leo frowned and averted his gaze but stopped arguing. They'd just have to see when they went to investigate. He really hoped the description had been wrong.

After the meeting the plane took off and Leo left to go to his room.

He had just lay down on top of his comforter and was staring at the ceiling when someone knocked on his door.

"Leo... can I come in?" Jemma asked hesitantly.

She must be worried about him to break one of the only rules they were sure of. He almost turned her away but he realized he didn't actually want to be alone right now.

"OK," he replied and she slid open the door before closing it behind her.

He didn't move and she sat on the side of his bed silently.

"Do you think I should have done something?" he asked her after a couple minutes. "Back then, after what happened at the academy."

"What could you have done?" she inquired gently. "Why would you have needed to be the one to-"

"Because I understood him Jemma," he interrupted guiltily. "I could have said something, gone to visit him. He was all alone after his friend died, he needed someone to help him. Maybe if I had just talked to him he wouldn't have-"

"You can't blame yourself for other people's mistakes," she reasoned. "He made his own choice, we all make our own choices and we have to live with them."

"Maybe making the right choice isn't as easy for some people," he said quietly. "Maybe they're in a dark place and they need someone to tell them it's OK to step into the light."

"It doesn't mean it's alright for them to hurt others," she answered, laying down beside him so that her face was a few inches from his.

He turned his head towards her and she stroked his cheek comfortingly. "There was nothing you could have done," she assured him, kissing his forehead softly.

Leo wasn't sure he agreed with her about that but he was calmed by her assurances and her touch.

He placed his hand on the side of her face and she gave him a small, warm smile which he returned.

"Do you think we still have enough time to scare Skye before we land?" he wondered, changing the subject.

Her grin widened into something almost impish and he felt a rush of affection. "I think so," she told him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Walkie Talkies are from Blue Bumble Bees. They were using them to communicate from their rooms when Jemma was having nightmares about the box at the bottom of the ocean and Fitz was having trouble with his memories.
> 
> The Fringe reference is Alone in the World. It is the name of a fourth season episode of Fringe and the title of this story.
> 
> The other reference (this time there were two) is really vague and it is the line "Maybe they're in a dark place and they need someone to tell them it's OK to step into the light." which is based off the line " even when it's the darkest, we can step into the light," from the fourth season episode One Night in October which actually partly inspired this story.
> 
> The names Blizzard and Whirlwind are from comic books (according to the marvel comic database). Donnie Gill is Blizzard and his partner Whirlwind is David Cannon. Kenzi is named after Kenzi (Mackenzie) Malikov from Lost Girl. (It's a show about mythical beings and my favourite characters are the two humans haha)
> 
> I watched the episode with the 'demon' guy Repairs recently and that is what inspired them scaring each other at the beginning. Fitz's reaction to whip cream in the face, the others giggling at him... haha. There is no real reason this story begins on Halloween, except as slight reference to One Night in October.
> 
> Thank you to notapepper for helping me with this idea and giving me some insights on Donnie :).


	2. To Have a Friend

"Oh my God," Donnie, gasped.

They were watching the news report on an old television in the cheap motel room they were staying in. He was sharing the room with his teammates Dave and Kenzi.

"Damn it Kelvin," Dave exclaimed, sounding furious.

Good, it wasn't just him. Dave thought this was messed up too. Two people dead? Their faces were displayed on the television screen and he couldn't look at them. This was crazy! This wasn't what he'd signed up for.

"It was an accident," she defended, waving her hand dismissively. "Our boss won't care."

"I care," Donnie shot back, looking to Dave for back up but his friend glanced away, silent.

Kenzi glared at him. "Sometimes sacrifices need to be made in the name of self preservation," she insisted.

"We didn't need to kill them," he argued furiously.

"We needed a distraction," she spat back, rising to her feet and and towering over him menacingly. "Did you want to get caught? Go back to Shield and be treated like some new species of fish in a jar again? We need to take down those power hungry maniacs and to do that we need money. So we rob places and we don't get caught. You got that you little weirdo?"

Donnie flinched away from her, unsure what to say. He looked to Dave for help again but he was focused on the television, his lips pressed together and his eyes narrowed uneasily. Some help he was.

"I need some air," he mumbled, ducking around her.

"You better come back after freak or we'll find you," Kenzi warned aggressively as she allowed him to leave.

He walked past the people smoking outside their rooms and onto the lamplit street to think.

He could believe that Kenzi would find him. They'd send others too and she wasn't even the scariest person in his new group, not even close. He wasn't going anywhere. Besides they were right, Shield needed to be taken down. Hydra had weakened it and now they may actually have a shot at finishing off the over controlling organization.

He only wished they weren't so reckless with people's lives, including his. They valued him as a tool but they didn't care if he was happy or safe. They were a lot like Shield that way, they hadn't cared about him either.

Seth had cared about him once. It had mattered to him if Donnie was safe, if he was happy.

/-/-/

October 31 2013

"You sure you don't want a Snickers?" Seth asked, tossing a candy bar at Donnie.

He smiled at him but tossed it back, continuing to draw out the blueprints for his new airgun. If he made it smaller he could... Oh that was a great idea! Could that work?

"Hey," Seth called, amused. "Space case, have some candy. It's Halloween."

"I'm not hungry," he brushed off the offer.

A packet of rockets landed on his paper.

"Are you going to draw that all night?" Seth chuckled at him. "Don't you want to go down to the boiler room for the party?"

"You can go have fun with your friends," Donnie assured him even though the thought of him leaving made him a little empty inside.

He didn't really want to be alone.

"You are my friend," Seth said seriously.

"Yeah?" Donnie looked over at Seth, his heart warm like a crackling bonfire as he grinned at him.

They were friends? He had a friend. Huh.

"Of course," Seth rolled his eyes. "Aren't you supposed to be some sort of super genius?" He teased.

"That's what people say," he chuckled, opening the pack of rockets. "Do you want one?"

"I want two," Seth told him, laughing as he came to stand beside him, looking down over his work. "Can you build this?" He gasped, surprised as he munched on a rocket.

"Maybe," Donnie told him.

"Cool," He beamed at him and the loneliness which had glazed over Donnie's heart like ice began to melt.

If he had to choose someone to be his friend, and it wasn't as if he could afford to be picky, Seth would have been his first choice.

/-/-/

"Just a short document, a couple of pages, five or six at most," Jemma requested.

They had arrived at the scene of the robbery and Jemma had shooed Leo ahead of her before hanging back to have a quick word with Coulson.

"Five or six?" Coulson asked incredulously.

"At most," she repeated, smiling hopefully.

"What exactly do you want me to put in five or six pages?" He wondered, almost sounding annoyed.

Maybe he was a little irritated with her. He seemed stressed, distracted.

"We... Well I just wanted a short guide, so there's no misunderstandings," she explained.

She didn't think Leo was as worried as she was about following the rules and she hoped he realized what was at stake: their relationship as well as their partnership. She wanted to keep all of him but if they had no clear boundaries that might prove difficult.

"Look, Simmons I don't have the time to write something up," he sighed and she guessed his new job was keeping him on his feet. "I know you feel more comfortable with set rules but they must be pretty obvious right?"

He smiled at her and she chuckled nervously. "Haha, right. Obvious, yes sir... But... Maybe you could let me in on a few...umm more tricky ones."

"When we're on a mission you're FitzSimmons," Coulson explained. "He's your teammate, not your boyfriend. And keep the... What do they call it now?" He frowned as he searched for the word. "Keep the making out to a minimum on the Bus."

"We'll save it for special occasions," she kidded and he raised an eyebrow at her. "Er... Or... When it's appropriate." She added quickly.

"I trust your disecration," he said, nodding.

'OK,' she thought uneasily.

"And as I've already told you I don't want anyone having sex on the Bus," he reminded her and she nodded quickly. "Which is why you need to-"

"Stay out of each other's rooms, right of course sir," she nodded.

"Good," he nodded. "I'm glad we understand each other."

Not entirely, Jemma still had many more questions but she held them back. They were on a mission, it could wait.

"Any clues?" She asked, coming to stand beside Skye.

"Fitz doesn't seem to have found anything," her friend told her, watching as the engineer steered Happy around the charred train car. "You going to join him?"

"Yes," she replied. "But first I wanted to ask you-"

"I really was scared Simmons," Skye smiled, amused. "Good job making those sheets float. Really convincing."

"It was just magnets," Simmons scoffed modestly but she grinned at the other agent's praise. "But that wasn't what I wanted to ask you. I was wondering when I could take a blood sample for... You know." She kept her voice low and gazed around to be sure no one would overhear.

"Oh... Ummm well we're kinda busy right now Simmons," Skye answered, glancing around as well and frowning.

"Well obviously not now but-" Jemma began.

"Why don't you go help out your boyfriend," she suggested, wiggling her eyebrows as she changed the subject. "You two gonna kiss if you find something super sciencey?"

"He isn't my boyfriend on a mission," Jemma corrected her, wondering why she had been avoiding this topic for the past week.

Skye had displayed... Well they had to be telekinetic, just because Jemma couldn't explain it didn't mean she was going to deny what she'd seen... abilities on their last mission. She'd only shown Jemma so far and on top of trusting her with the secret had agreed to let the biochemist run a few tests, just to be sure she was alright.

She'd agreed a few weeks ago anyway but now it seemed as if her friend had changed her mind.

"That's not a rule is it?" Skye asked skeptically.

"It is," Simmons let her know.

"So... Wow. OK. That doesn't make a whole lot of sense," she raised an eyebrow. "What do you break up before a mission and get back together after?"

"I think he meant it more as a symbolic guide to our behavior," Jemma clarified. "Anyway, you're right, I should go help Fitz. Think about the tests though alright? I want to make sure you're all fit and ship shape."

"Yeah OK," Skye mumbled as Jemma headed over to Leo and she wondered where the sudden hesitation had arisen from.

"Can't say I didn't see this coming," one of the agents helping them search the train was saying. "I knew Donnie back at the academy, I taught there the year he was kicked out. That kid was too young to be there, always causing trouble with the other students. Nothing most of the teachers noticed of course, just little arguments. I swear though, a few times he must have used one of his gadgets to mess with them. He was a crafty one."

"I thought he seemed like a nice guy," Leo was protesting. "And are you sure the other students weren't starting these arguments?"

"I think they mostly tried to ignore him," she answered defensively.

"Maybe that was the problem," Leo muttered irritably.

"Do we have a problem agent Fitz?" She asked, crossing her arms.

Jemma was certain he was about to shoot back a sharp retort when she interjected.

"Hello," she greeted brightly. "I'm agent Simmons, I don't believe we've met."

"Agent LeBlanc," she introduced herself. "Are you with him?" She jerked her head towards Leo as he caught Happy and placed him back in the box.

"Yes," she replied, smiling his way before turning back to agent LeBlanc. "He's my partner," she added for clarity.

Leo hadn't seen her, he was busy grumbling on as he packed up the D.W.A.R.F.

"Is he always such a charmer?" Agent LeBlanc asked sarcastically, frowning at him.

"This mission is... it's...," she stumbled as she attempted to explain his attitude to the other agent.

"It seems personal," agent LeBlanc guessed and Jemma sighed.

"We knew Donnie, sort of, and Fitz...," but she stopped herself because agent LeBlanc didn't need to know. She didn't need to know how much of himself Leo saw in Donnie. "It's complicated. Excuse me."

She left to search the train car with her partner.

/-/-/

October 31, 2005

"Hey are you going to the Pumpkin festival tonight?" Tom whispered beside him and Fitz turned, surprised by the invitation to see it wasn't for him but the girl on his other side. Mandy was her name, he recalled.

Of course, Tom wanted a date. He likely figured Fitz had found one too, he was a cute guy, good looking and charming why not?

He hadn't even thought to ask anyone though. He hadn't known this was a bring a date event. Besides most of the other students would probably find him a little too young to be asked out by. They seemed to think he was seven not seventeen.

"I'm in," she replied over Fitz and he leaned back so they could talk over him.

Wouldn't want to get in the way of a possible budding romance.

"Cool, how about you Samson?" Tom inquired.

"Sounds fun," he answered. "Meet you at the usual place?"

"Yeah sure, six o'clock," he agreed and they returned their attention to the lecture.

Samson? The usual place? What the hell? Fitz had been working in the same lab as Tom for almost a month now and he was hanging around with Samson instead of him? Who was this Samson guy and what did he have that Fitz didn't? A bitter seed planted itself in his stomach.

What stung the most was the casual way in which Tom had ignored him, talked over him as if he wasn't even there. As if they hadn't had over a hundred hours of lab time together already. As if he didn't know Fitz at all.

Whatever, it was a stupid festival anyway. 'Pumpkin festival', just call it the Halloween festival, that was what it was.

/-/-/

Fitz was at the stupid festival, throwing out his plate and fork from a slice of pumpkin pie, when he ran into Tom, Mandy and Samson.

He called out a greeting as he waved at them and they glanced in his direction, expressions like they'd never seen him before.

"It's me," he reminded them irritably. "Fitz."

"Oh Liam was it?" Tom asked, recognition flickering across his face.

Seriously? Liam?

"It's Fitz," he corrected.

"Yeah but you have first name," he pondered, frowning as he tried to remember. "... Something weird... Leonard?"

Something weird? His name was not weird.

"Leopold," he told him hotly and Samson snickered.

"Sorry," he chuckled. "It just sounds like such an old man name for someone so young."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it," he snapped back, a hot ball of anger bouncing around inside him. "I'm a babyface and I have a stupid name."

"Hey, what's your problem?" Tom demanded and he scowled at him.

"Nothing, whatever, never mind," he muttered, turning to walk away.

"This is why Shield shouldn't recruit children," Mandy sneered and Fitz snapped.

That did it, that was his breaking point. Fitz shattered. He'd meant to test his new device on his own phone but if they were going to harass him like this he was going to have no choice but to retaliate.

Reaching into his pocket he removed a small square box which appeared similar to a remote control with a switch in the center. He aimed it at Tom and flicked the switch. There was a loud beeping from the other student's pocket and he reached in, pulling out his cell phone.

"What the hell did you do?" He exclaimed angrily, frantically pushing buttons. "Come here you little weirdo," he growled but his tone was filled with aggression and he seemed ready to hit someone so Fitz bolted.

"Come back here you freak!" Tom exclaimed taking up the chase.

Fitz ran away as fast as he could, terrified of what would happen if Tom caught up to him. Would he beat him up in a crowd like this? Maybe not but he wasn't going to risk it.

He hid beneath a wagon, hoping none of them had spotted him going under however it soon became clear that they had when Tom grabbed him by his shirt and hauled him out, stretching the fabric and causing it to dig painfully into the skin on the back of his neck as he struggled.

"Thought you could run did you coward?" He demanded. "Some Shield agent you'd make. You fix my phone right now or else."

"No," he spat back, glaring defiantly.

He was not a coward and Tom didn't deserve a working cell phone. The jerk.

His stubborn reply enraged his attacker who wrestled away his device from him roughly, hurting Fitz's wrist by twisting it around when he tried to resist.

Tom then took the device, threw it onto the ground and stomped on it with a loud crack.

"Hey! Don't!" Fitz protested but he pushed him down as he tried to stop him from continuing to crush it with his foot.

There were several people who walked by and some stared but no one did anything. No one cared.

Fitz was silent, his stomach filled with cold rocks as he watched his work be destroyed after falling on his butt in front of everyone.

When it was over no one helped him pick up the pieces, no one asked if he was alright. It didn't matter to them what happened to him. He was a nobody.

He should have gone back to his dorm, it was late, but he didn't want to sleep, he wanted to fix his device. He'd named it the Silencer before Tom had crushed the life out of it. It was his Silencer and he wanted it back in one piece.

So he made his way to the lab, because he still had the key in his pocket, and set on fixing it.

It took a few hours of toying with it and digging up spare parts from the supply closet but he managed to get it working again. He tested it out on his own cell phone, signal off, signal on. It worked both ways and if that brute hadn't smashed it he would have turned his back on. Fat chance of that now.

Not that he couldn't probably get it fixed anyway. Tom was an inorganic chemistry student but he had a few friends in engineering. People liked Tom, they cared what happened to him.

No one cared what happened to Fitz, no one in the whole damn country, the whole stupid continent cared about him.

His eyes stung as he moved on to another project, keeping himself busy because he wouldn't have been able to sleep even if he wanted to.

He rubbed them harshly, refusing to let himself cry. Tom was wrong he wasn't a weakling, he wasn't a coward. He just wanted someone to see him, to like him and to actually be happy when they ran into him or to -crazy thought- even invite him to come to the dumb festival with them.

Anyone really, he wasn't going to be choosy. Was that really such a huge request? He only wanted someone to be his friend.

/-/-/

"There's nothing," Leo exclaimed angrily, kicking a charred seat. "It's all burnt to a crisp. Not one of Donnie's powers by the way," he added, glancing meaningfully her way.

"Fitz there's footage of him getting onto the train with the other two," she reminded him gently, his unhappiness shooting a pang of sorrow through her heart. "He was here."

"But he didn't do this," Leo asserted gesturing to their surroundings with his arms.

"No, probably not," she conceded. "But he-"

"I know, I know," Leo muttered. "He was here. That doesn't mean he meant for anyone to get hurt... It doesn't mean any of them did. What's going to happen when we catch them?"

"We need to catch them-" she insisted.

"I know that!" He hissed, making her flinch in surprise but he softened instantly. "I didn't mean to snap at you, I'm sorry Jemma this isn't your fault... That wasn't... I know. I'll do my job, I just wish I didn't have to."

She'd been ready to snap back at him about... Actually most of what he had just said but he had apologized and now he was hunched over, sad and defeated and still her darling however much she tried not to think of him that way while they were working. He was her darling and he was distressed and hurt and looking as if he was seeing all that was wrong in the world all at once.

What was the point of ignoring that? She wouldn't have before, as his partner and his friend so why do it now?

"Leo we're going to make this right," she told him firmly, placing a hand on his shoulder. "That's what we do, we're Shield, we protect people and that includes Donnie. No one wants to hurt him."

"I think he's hurt anyway," Leo said softly but he smiled at her. "You always did know what to say," he murmured touching her face for just a moment, his eyes filled with a pure, undefined love.

"That's because I listen," she smiled back, mirroring that love.

/-/-/

May 31, 2006

Fitz and Simmons were at the flower festival, (Simmons had suggested they go, bribed him with an ice cream cone actually) discussing possible applications of the surface tension of water. He had finished his ice cream and was licking the chocolate off his fingers as Simmons handed him a napkin, shooting him a disapproving look concerning his poor manners.

"All I'm saying is that if bugs can walk on water, we could certainly invent a tiny robot that could-" he was telling her but she'd spotted a distraction and interrupted him.

"Oh look Fitz, a bouncy castle! Can we go in?" Simmons exclaimed before realizing what she had said and turning slightly pink around her cheeks. "Umm... That is... I mean I used to love those when I was a child," she said quickly. "You could just bounce and bounce away all your worries and..."

Bouncing away worries, that sounded pretty good just then. With all his projects and exams he had so many fears nagging him like chattering ghosts circling his head that he doubted if he could bounce them all away but he could certainly try. He had no reason not to...

Except for the fact that everyone already treated him like he was about ten years younger than he was and he fit in with the other students as well as a left hand in a right handed glove. What if someone saw?

"Simmons I think we're a little old for this don't you?" He asked, raising his eyebrows at her almost scoldingly.

She was silent for a few seconds, staring at the bouncy castle. Then she glanced around nervously, looked back at the bouncy castle and seemed to come to a decision.

Slipping off her shoes so that her white socks touched the grass, she turned to him and told him, "I'm doing it."

"Simmons," he called after her, half amused half afraid someone would see her. "I'm not going in there."

"Suit yourself," she shrugged, and he saw her through the screening beginnng to bounce with a thump, thump thump. "I. Think. I'm. Burning. Out." She announced, each word coming on a bounce.

"What? That's ridiculous," he argued.

Simmons burn out? She was the smartest person in the whole academy. If she was failing everyone else was in serious trouble.

"What did you say?" She shouted through the fabric door and over the sound of her bouncing.

"I said-" he began.

"What?" She shouted again.

"Oh the hell with it," he grumbled, giving up and kicking off his shoes so he could climb in after her.

"Fitz! So nice of you to join me," she smiled and he wondered if this whole 'I can't hear you' business had been an act to draw him in. Maybe not, deceit wasn't really her strength.

Her bouncing was sending waves across the ground, setting him off balance and he struggled not to fall on his butt.

"You need to bounce," she instructed. "Or you'll fall over."

"Fine," he conceded.

Why not? He was in here already, the damage was done. He only hoped no one was watching.

He began to hop up and down, feeding off of Simmons' bounces and fueling hers so that they were hopping around like a pair of grasshoppers and if Fitz was honest with himself he was enjoying it.

He was enjoying the way his stomach dropped as he sprung into the air, suspended for a moment before landing on a wave from Simmons which catapulted him back up again. It made him feel like he was ten years younger but not in the embarrassing, too young to do anything way the other students made him feel but in the boundary-less, excited for life way he saw Simmons display all the time. He could do anything and right now he wanted to bounce like he'd landed on the moon.

"What's this about you burning out?" He demanded, sobering a little as he remembered her comment. "Who's been telling you this nonsense?"

"I had my psychological evaluation yesterday," she informed him, jumping away and not meeting his eyes.

Oh, that. Suddenly he was back from the moon. He hadn't done as well as he'd thought on the evaluation but he didn't see what Simmons was getting so worked up about. She was the perfect Shield agent, even brave enough to want to work in the field someday.

"Apparently. I don't. Lie. Well. Enough." She bounced miserably. "I'd. Make. A poor. Choice. For. Employment. In the. Field."

That evaluation must be a sham, Simmons was ready for anything. So what if she couldn't lie? She was a scientist not a specialist. She'd be examining alien parts or superhero bodies... Er... Their powers.

Poor Simmons, she must be crushed they'd say something so negative about her. In the time he'd known her he'd gotten the sense she had a hard time when she didn't meet people's expectations.

He didn't have any compulsive need to meet anyone's expectations and even he'd taken his results poorly. The truth in them had stung.

"At least. You're not. A coward," he pounded with his feet on the bouncy castle floor.

"What are you talking about?" She scoffed. "You aren't a coward, that's ridiculous! Who said that?" She leapt back over to him, eyes narrowed and challenging his imaginary attacker.

"The people who did my evaluation," he told her.

They hadn't said that exactly. Their exact words had been 'Demonstrates apprehension when asked about field work. Employment in field not recommend,' and they had been written not spoken however he'd read the accusation behind them. 'He isn't brave enough to be an agent, unless we keep him tucked away in a lab somewhere. Leo Fitz is a coward, too scared to do anything really risky.'

"Bloody morons," Simmons swore and he snapped his head up to face her in surprise. He'd never heard her insult anyone of authority and here she was doing it in his defense.

It was the first time he'd thought that maybe she loved him. Not love like I want to kiss you until my lips fall off or I want you to be my honey but love like he was a friend. A good friend, the kind you stood up for. The kind you maybe tricked into going into bouncy castles with you to confess your fears to.

"Damn stupid blind idiots!" He shouted and her eyes grew round before a smile crept onto her face and she giggled.

This confession thing was working out pretty well, he was less stressed already. He wanted to do more.

"I zone out. During the history. Of Shield," he hopped. "I am. So bored in. That class. I'm actually worried. I'll fail. Of boredom."

She laughed and he didn't tell her he was only halfway joking.

"I fell. Asleep. In Mr. Vaughn's. Class," she shot back and now it was his turn to laugh because she actually appeared guilty about it.

"You and. Everyone. Else," he assured her and she grinned at him.

"I actually was wondering if I could borrow your notes from last week," she requested.

"Didn't I just tell you I was asleep?" He teased and she rolled her eyes at him.

"Poor silly Fitz," she chuckled affectionately, her face lit with delight as her hair bounced around it.

She seemed so happy in that moment and it made his heart fill with joy to see her smile stretch from one ear to the other. It was then that he realized he loved her too. She was his someone, his someone to stand with him so he didn't have to face the hard things in life alone. And he wouldn't have chosen anyone else.

/-/-/

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Fringe reference is the wagon hiding at the carnival. In One Night in October a boy hides under a wagon at a fall carnival from his abusive father. His father finds him and in our universe he manages to get away and finds a nice woman who adopts him. In the other universe, however, he doesn't get away and his father beats him up. That night sets them on very different paths to become very different people.
> 
> I feel like the superhuman team is feeling a bit like X-men haha, but that's fine right?
> 
> So this had been Chapter of Flashbacks. I think this is it for a while on those but I could be wrong. I will probably do more Donnie ones.
> 
> Oh ya! Leopold is a great name. It means brave person and reminds me of Koromon (Digimon) which means brave little warrior.


	3. The Hole Left Behind

Leo and Jemma were in the lab, looking over the data from Happy on the holo-table.

"There's nothing," Leo grumbled. "What was the point of even going there?"

"We had to take a look, just in case," Jemma pointed out, touching his arm for a heartbeat and smiling reassuringly at him.

She'd been giving out small gestures like that all night, a touch on the arm, bumping shoulders, a warm smile, trying to comfort him and he knew she was dancing along the line that had been drawn for the both of them between their working relationship and their romantic one. It was so much more complicated now and it drove him crazy trying to decide what would push them over it.

He knew she was probably having just as hard a time as him, perhaps even more so because Jemma had always been one to stick to what was appropriate and within the rules others had set for her.

It wasn't as if these tiny gestures were anything new, they'd always been a part of their relationship but now a touch on the arm could mean more than what it had meant before, could be misinterpreted as intimate in a moment when intimacy wasn't suitable.

She thought he wasn't worried but he was, he loved every part of their relationship and wouldn't want to sacrifice any of it.

"We need to be more careful," he warned, moving away a little even though he didn't want to. "This is only a trial period, we need to show Coulson we can be responsible."

"You're absolutely right," she informed him, obviously relieved by his understanding of their situation.

"But it isn't as if we never touched before-" he began, shuffling closer.

"No, you're right Fitz," she interrupted. "We need to follow the rules to the letter, show everyone we can make this work." She agreed, shuffling away and maintaining the space between them and he regretted having said anything.

"So what are the rules exactly?" He asked, turning over a 3D image of a seat. Nothing.

She scoffed as she enlarged part of the hole which had been blasted into the side of the train. "Hell if I know, Coulson hasn't had time to write any up."

"So...?" he wondered.

"We're... umm... winging it. On our own, using our discretion." she informed him uncertainly.

"Ah," he replied, equally uncertain and they were silent.

"I can't believe the way that other agent was talking about Donnie," Leo muttered after a period of futile searching of the hologram. "There isn't anything here," he relinquished. "We'll just have to see what we get from talking with Mackenzie and David's parents."

Jemma gazed at her watch, "We'll be in Boston in a couple hours to meet with Mackenzie's family," she announced wearily.

"Do you want to go take a nap?" he offered.

"Are you alright?" she asked in place of an answer, eyes filled with concern as they scanned his face.

He shrugged. "I'm fine," he assured her, he was worried about Donnie but he was also concerned for Jemma. He didn't want her staying up because of him.

"Well I'm not," she told him as they shut down the holo-table. "I don't think I could sleep when we have nothing to go on and Skye is..." she clapped a hand over her mouth, eyes wide.

"What, what's wrong with Skye?" Leo demanded anxiously but she shook her head.

"It's a... er... personal... problem. She-" she started to say.

"Never mind," Leo stopped her. "I don't want to know about Skye's lady problems."

"Right... ummm... so..." she stumbled on her words. "We're off for now, what would you like to do?"

Leo wondered briefly what Skye's lady problem was. Then he decided it really wasn't any of his business. If she trusted Jemma with her secret he wasn't going to push an answer out of her, poor Jemma had trouble keeping secrets as it was.

He raised his eyebrows at her, grinning. "I think I know what we've both wanted to do-" he began.

"Oh are you thinking what I think your thinking," she chirped, returning his grin and hopping around a little.

"I think so," he chuckled. She was so cute when she got excited.

"But... well I mean on the Bus?" she worried. "Is there enough room?"

"Jemma they're made for searching buildings and the Bus is practically a flying house," he reminded her, tilting his head to the side. "C'mon, I know you want to-"

"It's not the most responsible use of them-" she pointed out.

"Of course it is, we need to practice using them for when we actually need them don't we?" he objected and he knew by the way the smile returned to her face, lighting it with glee, that he'd got her. She was in.

/-/-/

"Watch the corner, watch the corner!" Leo exclaimed, gazing at her monitor over her shoulder.

The pair sat on the floor of the lab with their backs pressed against the glass door and their bodies pressed together as close as they could be and still allow manoeuvrability. They were taking a break, no reason to avoid contact while they were playing around.

"Mind your own drone," she teased, easily making the turn. "I can handle them as well as you you know."

"I don't know about that," he objected playfully. "I tend to steer them more than you do."

"Only because you hog them all to yourself," she giggled as they watched Sleepy and Grumpy zoom down the hall from their screens.

On Jemma's screen Sleepy spiraled up the stairs ahead of Grumpy.

"Are you sure it doesn't have anything to do with the fact that you're busy sticking your nose into whatever strange, slimy or corpsey thing we find?" he challenged and she nudged him, laughing.

"Maybe a little," she admitted.

"Uh huh," he mused, quickly kissing her cheek and filling her up with joy.

"First to the kitchen decides which popcorn we make," she declared, changing Sleepy's course.

"Oh that's fair," he complained, not really upset by her head start.

"Simmons?" Skye called softly, entering the lab hesitantly. "I think I'm ready for- oh hey Fitz. What are you two doing?"

"Racing to the kitchen," Fitz mumbled, attention on Grumpy but Jemma had began to steer Sleepy back towards them and he gazed at her questioningly, seeming a little disappointed.

"Sorry but... I think Skye needs..." she fumbled.

"Oh," he understood, turning Grumpy around. "I'll just slip out then..."

"You told him?" Skye gasped, slightly alarmed.

"No, no," Jemma assured her. "I didn't I just..."

"She only said you had a lady problem," Leo defended before turning pink. "Or... er... that it was private. She said it was private." he corrected, embarrassed.

The relief on Skye's face was as obvious as a stop sign should be and Jemma wondered why she was so worried about the others finding out about her. She must know they wouldn't treat her any different right?

Leo darted out in search of the drones and Skye took a seat at one of the desks where she'd been keeping her laptop. It remained closed as she tugged down her sleeve and stared at her lap apprehensively.

"I'm sorry you have to lie like that," She apologized once Leo had left. "I know you don't like it... and especially to Fitz-"

"It's your body," Jemma told her. "Your secret. I have no right to tell anyone until you're ready."

"Thanks," Skye smiled slightly but she still looked nervous.

"Have you used your powers since we last spoke?" Jemma inquired coolly, smiling encouragingly at her friend like this was no big deal.

It wasn't exactly no big deal... She didn't care if Skye grew a second head as long as it wasn't hurting her however if these new powers were harming her in any way Jemma needed to get to the bottom of it and fix the problem. She would never let anything bad happen to anyone, especially someone she cared about.

"No," Skye updated her, attempting to match her calm. "They freak me out to be honest. I don't want to use them."

"OK, well we won't have time for that today anyway," Jemma let her know as she prepared to draw a blood sample. "But I might ask for you to try them out later- if you're comfortable with that- just to see if there are any adverse effects of you using them on your health."

"Like what?" Skye worried, pulling at her sleeve again.

Poor Skye, she looked so frightened. Why had Jemma said that?

Because it was the truth. She didn't know what was happening to her friend, a few weeks ago she didn't even believe in psychic abilities like telekinesis. Who knew the effects Skye's powers could have on her?

She didn't want her to be afraid though so she tried to reassure her.

"You're probably fine," she soothed. "Like I said when you told me about it the first time, if you used these abilities as an infant and they didn't hurt you back then they probably won't now."

"Probably," Skye echoed, tugging on her other sleeve. "Do you think they'll send me to the Sandbox?" she asked unhappily.

"There is no Sandbox anymore," Jemma told her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "And whatever we have now... you aren't going there. You're staying with us, there are plenty of people with powers who are Shield agents... look at the Avengers. We like people with powers. And people without them," she added awkwardly. "Shield likes everyone... except bad guys... and..."

"They sent Donnie to the Sandbox," Skye reminded her bleakly.

"You aren't Donnie," Jemma informed her matter-of-factly, needle ready. "I need you to pull up your sleeve please," she instructed gently.

"OK," she complied, rolling it back. "Thanks Simmons," she said, smiling gratefully at Jemma. "You're being really cool about this whole thing. It's really helping me not freak out completely."

"You have nothing to freak out about," Jemma answered comfortingly. "You're fine. Be ready for a slight pinch," she warned her before she injected the needle.

/-/-/

January 21 2014

Agent Adams removed the needle from Donnie's arm as she finished with the blood sample.

"Is that the last one?" Donnie asked, because he was feeling a little dizzy from all the blood they'd taken out of him.

"For now," he told him, smiling in the friendly but sterilized, professional manner Donnie had began to become accustomed to.

"What do you need them for?" He wondered, watching him store them in a cooler next to several other samples. They were all numbered and his was 15-12-9-22-5 C, which if you replaced the numbers with their corresponding letter in the alphabet (1 equals A) spelled Olive, the first name of his supervisor. The C probably meant there were at least two others like him she was in charge of, however he'd never met them.

He'd been in isolation ever since he'd been brought there from the academy (which he was certain he'd been expelled from) but they'd telling him it was only temporary and he'd have more or less free run of the Sand Box, at least the special asset section, soon enough.

Special asset was Shield's way of describing people with powers, people like Donnie. At least he was still part of Shield.

He'd really wanted to be an engineer though. Creating and building new things gave him far more pleasure than his powers ever did. Especially since he was usually hooked up to no less than two machines when he was using them which he'd rather be opening up to look inside.

And they'd been ignoring his questions, avoiding them like agent Adams was now.

"Am I ever going back to the academy?" Donnie tried again and the man shook his head sympathetically.

"Mr. Gill," he began placing a hand on his shoulder. Donnie wasn't really all that comforted by his touch but he let him because at least he'd gotten him to answer something. "You know you did something very, very wrong don't you?"

Why was he speaking as if Donnie was eight years old? Like he'd dropped all his mother's makeup into the toilet to make a potion.

"Yes sir," he replied, trying his best to sound like an adult.

"You need to show us we can trust you first," he explained. "Then we'll see."

"You mean I could go back?" Donnie chirped, failing at sounding grown up.

"Maybe," agent Adams said carefully. He chuckled. "With your powers would you go to Sci-tech or Operations?" He joked... At least Donnie thought it was a joke.

"Sci-tech," he told him without hesitation. He missed tinkering.

It wasn't the only thing he missed, wasn't the only thing which life without seemed slow and unbearable.

"Can I go to the funeral?" He requested, encouraged by the agent's current accommodation to his inquiries.

"Oh..." Now agent Adams seemed uncomfortable. "I'm sorry Mr. Gill but... We can't let you leave the facility."

"OK," Donnie mumbled disappointedly.

He wasn't going to do anything bad. He wasn't going to start a super storm or try to escape or anything like that, he just wanted to say good bye. Though the thought of having to look Seth's mother and father in the eyes when he was responsible for the death of their son was daunting to say the least. Did they know it was his fault? Did they hate him?

Perhaps it was better for him to remain where he was. That didn't mean he was OK with not being able to say good bye though. It didn't mean he'd had any sort of closure.

It didn't mean he wasn't completely on his own now. Just him and himself against the world.

/-/-/

May 15 2014

Never in her life had Simmons felt this kind of aching loneliness. It wasn't like anything she'd ever experienced. It wasn't the longing for something mysterious and foreign, something that was out there but you hadn't found yet. It was an infinite, empty void that had been left by what was once there but had been torn out of her.

Fitz was right in front of her, no more than a foot away, his limp, cold hand in her own, but he wasn't there. Not really. He might never be there again and she didn't know if she could handle that.

She knew he'd meant it when he said he couldn't live if she didn't but she'd meant it too when she'd said she felt the same way.

She would though, of course she would, but she didn't think the void would ever be filled. It was too vast, too vacant.

"I did what I said," she whispered to him, her voice soft and wispy because she'd been crying. "I didn't leave you. So please..." she begged, letting out a sob as more tears fell down her cheeks and rolled off the bottom of her face. "Please don't leave me all alone here."

/-/-/

January 14 2014

Seth was dead. They had stopped trying to revive him, his heart was not going to start beating again.

He thought Simmons had known what she was doing, shouting out orders authoritatively and doing her job without flinching, doing what needed to be done like she had when he'd been frozen. They'd saved him so why couldn't they save Seth?

No, that wasn't fair, it wasn't Simmons' fault it was his. He was so stupid, so reckless. What the hell had he been thinking? How could this be happening?

He wasn't sure what he was saying, he was barely aware of Skye touching his back in a feeble attempt at comfort. All he could think was 'no'.

'No, please don't leave me all alone here.'

He was alone though, his only friend was dead and it was his fault. Fitz tried to apologize, tried to say something but it was stupid. Everything he said was so damn pointless and Donnie told him severely to stop.

There was no one left to care about him anymore and the ice which had gripped his heart in a frozen loneliness returned.

Which was why he thought, at first, that he was imagining it when the window grew cold and he saw frost form from his finger tips.

/-/-/

Fitz woke up.

He opened his eyes and when they finally focused on her face and his mouth formed a tiny smile she knew. She knew that he was still Fitz.

Whatever else there was, whatever problems he would face or however much the world was falling apart around them, he was there with her again.

The void filled with an entire universe complete with stars and planets and nebulas which glowed red from excited hydrogen atoms and worlds with squiggly little life-forms of varying intelligence.

He squeezed her hand and she laughed in relief as his smile widened and his eyes locked onto her, filled with unmistakable recognition before she leaned forward to kiss his face, every inch of it because she loved all of it. All of him.

/-/-/

It was eight in the morning when they arrived at the Malikov's house. Jemma, Leo and Trip were going to interview Mackenzie's family while the rest of the team flew to Kansas City to interview David's.

"I can't believe Kenzi would..." Mrs. Malikov shook her head, eyes wide with horror when they told her the news.

They sat in the living room, the team had been offered hot beverages however all three had turned them down. It was nice with a big grey sofa Jemma was sharing with Leo and Trip and two grey armchairs which the Malikovs sat on, appearing extraordinarily distressed.

"When did she begin to exhibit her... abilities?" Trip asked and Jemma was fine with letting him do the talking.

Her friend was good with people, he was charming and easygoing and people tended to trust him.

"She must have been around eleven," Mr. Malikov answered, looking to his wife who nodded.

"She was very sick as a child," Mrs. Malikov explained. "We didn't know what to do, no one could tell us what was wrong with her. Then one day we met Dr. Dennis and she started her on a new drug... it was a trial for patients with the same unclassified condition as Kenzi and it worked, she was better."

"But then she started getting into trouble," Mr. Malikov went on. "She'd start fires. Everywhere, the school bathroom, at home, in the woods and we-"

"We didn't understand," Mrs. Malikov told them. "We thought she was doing it on purpose. Her psychologist said she had pyromania. We didn't know what to do. She kept saying she wasn't doing it but we didn't believe her. I still... I still wished we had just believed her. Maybe if we had it wouldn't have driven such a wedge between us. She was so angry that we wouldn't listen but we were only trying to help her."

"And then when she was seventeen Shield agents came to our door and told us she had powers," Mr. Malikov continued. "They told us she didn't know what she was doing, she didn't know it was her doing it. We had never believed her though and I don't think she ever forgave us." He let out a shaky breath and fell silent.

"They took her away, and we let them because we didn't know what else to do," Mrs. Malikov said quietly. "She was furious and we tried to visit, to send letters but she wouldn't talk to us. And then a few years later Shield fell and she ran away and we've been so worried about her... but we never thought she'd... our Kenzi wouldn't hurt anyone. She's probably just scared... and now she's out there all alone..."

Mrs. Malikov wiped her eyes and her husband handed her a tissue before taking one himself.

"We'll find your daughter," Trip assured them.

"Thank you," Mrs. Malikov whispered.

"Don't let her hurt anyone else," Mr. Malikov pleaded.

"We'll do our best," he replied honestly and the couple nodded.

/-/-/

"So are you going to stop her if she tries to hurt anyone this time?" Donnie demanded quietly as he and Dave approached the bank, a few paces behind Kenzi.

"Are you?" Dave challenged and Donnie looked away.

He wished Dave could just be on his side for once but he was either too afraid to challenge Kenzi on this or he agreed with her. He was really hoping for the first one.

They entered the bank and Donnie froze the doors shut so no one could leave and glazed over the button under the desk which set off the silent alarm as Kenzi threatened the tellers with her flames and Dave with his frightening spinning. Donnie wondered how he could do that without getting dizzy.

"If any of you try anything stupid we'll burn the whole place to the ground with you trapped inside it," Kenzi warned fiercely. "Blizzard, make sure you smash everyone's cell phones."

'Of course,' he thought sarcastically. 'Because I'm the engineer so I'm in charge of their gadgets. It isn't as if I suggested we build one to break us in without scaring all these people half to death and destroying their property.'

For once though, he was glad she'd called him Blizzard, he wouldn't have wanted her using his real name. Not that he wouldn't be identified on the video which was being recorded of them, as they had probably been on the train.

'We're taking down Shield,' he reminded himself as he crushed a woman's phone under his foot. 'The higher ups will protect us and we need to make sure that the organization doesn't imprison people with powers anymore.'

Still did their plans really need to be so sloppy? If they didn't have the transport and resources their leaders provided they would have been caught by now for sure. The fake ID's and credit cards with someone else's name hid them between robberies even if everyone knew their faces but they could have worn masks.

A man behind Donnie leapt up and tried to attack Kenzi but she pressed her hand against his chest and he stopped in his tracks, eyes wide and beads of sweat forming on his skin.

She gave him a small push and he collapsed to the floor shaking and turning red, drenched in his own sweat and gasping in breaths.

"What did you do to him?" Donnie shouted, rushing over to try to help.

"He attacked me," Kenzi defended, unfazed. "We need to go, do you have the money Whirlwind?"

"I do..." he answered, staring at the man on the floor who had started to convulse.

He was having a seizure, Donnie realized, because he was overheating. He gazed intently at Dave, begging him to do something.

It was too late though, the convulsions stopped and the man lay still. Donnie searched for a pulse but found none.

"We don't have time for this," Kenzi snapped impatiently.

"You killed him!" Donnie shouted but another man burst in through the iced over door, cracking through Donnie's work.

"What's taking so long?" he growled.

He was bigger than all of them, older and strong because he had once been part of project centipede. Donnie knew his face and his name, Legs because of his origins. He didn't know his real name but that didn't really seem all that important when he was glaring down on you.

"Get moving," he ordered and they all rushed to obey.

Donnie wondered what was going to happen to him once this was all over. He wondered too if, in the grand scheme of the universe, what happened to him really mattered.

/-/-/

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Fringe reference is 15 12 9 22 5 which spells Olive. Alternate Olivia uses it as code to hide messages in her notes when she is spying on our universe. Our Olivia discovers it because she thinks the same way as she does.
> 
> Dr. Dennis is named after Bo Dennis from Lost Girl, Kenzi's best buddy.
> 
> I am doing the dates of the flashbacks by when the episode aired, I am not sure if there was a set timeline in the show so I figured that would be easiest.
> 
> Agent Adams is named after Bryan Adams because he was playing on the radio when I wrote him haha.
> 
> I have my laptop so I am a bit type happy right now. I don't need to fight with my tablet which insists on changing Jemma to He! or Jeff all the time. Oh autocorrect what even?
> 
> David comes from Kansas City Missouri because according to marvel wiki Whirlwind does.


	4. The Fight

3 Weeks Earlier

"What were you in for?" Dave asked Donnie as he watched him assemble the device which would stop the train dead in its tracks. "Why did they lock you up in the Sandbox?"

They were at a cheap, dirty motel in a town called Westfield, waiting for their first mission. His first mission, Dave and Kenzi had robbed places before. It was their first mission as team though.

He was making a device to help them rob a train. He'd thought he'd sworn off a life of crime after almost destroying a city with an ice machine which created a colossal a super-storm, but promises were broken all the time.

His father had promised him he'd write when he was at the academy, Seth had promised it'd always be them against the world, agent Adams had promised that, if he was good, he'd get to go back to the academy.

No one kept their promises, so why should he?

"My friend and I created a machine that could have killed hundreds of people and almost sold it to someone who probably would have used it to kill more," he informed him robotically, insuring the anchor was properly secured to the clamp, this was going to need to stop a train after all.

Dave laughed. "You really are more of a tinkerer than freezer aren't you?" he mused.

"Yeah," Donnie answered quietly, unsure if he should laugh along or if he was being made fun of.

"Not much of a talker either," Kenzi sneered from the other bed which she sat reading on, and this time he knew she was making fun of him.

"Shut up Kelvin, the kid's new, he's probably shy," Dave defended and Donnie smiled gratefully at him.

"Besides I got my powers after," he offered up the explanation now that he no longer felt that Dave was laughing  _at_  him.

"What?" Dave asked, tilting his head, puzzled.

"The- the machine, it... it gave me my powers," he stumbled to clarify.

Dave was right, he was shy. He didn't want to mess this up when at least one of them seemed to be warming up to him.

"Some genius, can't even string a few words together," Kenzi taunted and Donnie turned red, feeling his insides squirm unpleasantly.

"Why do you have to be such a bully?" Dave demanded, once again coming to Donnie's defence. "Did you get picked on when you were a kid? Is that it?"

"Did you?" she shot back breezily, seemingly unperturbed by his question. "Is that why you're such a hero, sticking up for people who don't have the guts to stick up for themselves?"

"You just wish someone had stuck up for you," he countered irritably. "Don't take it out on Donnie just because no one-"

"Shut up," she snapped, finally angry. "I'm going to take a walk, I can't take you two anymore."

She left in a huff and Donnie awkwardly kept his eyes fixed on his work. He hadn't meant to start trouble.

"Sorry," he mumbled, when she was gone.

"Hey, it wasn't you," Dave assured him. "Don't worry about Kenzi, she's more bark than bite... mostly. No, she bites too but it's nothing personal I think she just hates everyone because her folks thought she was crazy for years."

"Oh," Donnie answered, not knowing what to say to that. Was he suppose to say something? "Thanks for sticking up for me," he tried and received a friendly grin for his efforts. "What do your parents think about your powers?" he inquired, before realizing that was far too personal a question and pinking up again.

Dave chuckled, a little bitterly this time. "They dumped me with Shield as soon as I could spin," he told him. "Which was actually quite a few years after I could walk," he joked but Donnie, again, wasn't sure if he was meant to be laughing so he twitched his mouth in a quick half smile instead. "I don't think they knew what to do with me," Dave explained. "I've been told I caused a lot of property damage and I sort of remember that I ran over my sister. She was OK... eventually... and it was an accident, but I think that was what made their decision."

"I'm sorry," Donnie whispered.

Poor Dave, he was such a nice guy too. Well apart from being a criminal, but who was he to judge?

"What about your parents?" Dave asked him, handing him a bag of chips which he accepted. "Are they wondering where you are?"

"No," Donnie shook his head, "probably not."

The truth was they probably were, but he didn't want to face them, didn't want them to see what he'd become, they were already ashamed of him. What would they think of him becoming a train robber? Maybe their next mission would be to rob a bank and he'd become a cliche bad guy.

/-/-/

"They're becoming more dangerous," May commented as she knelt down to examine the body of Ivan Maroon beside Jemma.

" _Mackenzi_  is becoming more dangerous," Leo corrected, steering Happy around the bank, and received a look of pity from Jemma and one of disappointment from May. "Neither of the other two have even hurt anyone." he pressed, not managing to change their expressions.

"They were part of this robbery, this is on them too," May informed him firmly, rising to go talk to one of the tellers and Leo wondered if maybe she'd seen a different video.

Once May was out of earshot, he wandered over to stand beside Jemma confused that she hadn't backed him up about the other two.

"You agree with her don't you?" he guessed quietly, staring down at her as she worked.

He'd thought she was on his side, maybe not completely concurrent with him, but she had seen the recording of the robbery, she knew Donnie had tried to do something, that this wasn't 'on him'.

"She isn't saying that we need to eliminate them," Jemma pointed out, glancing up at him with that same almost infuriating look of pity she'd given him a few seconds ago. "Fitz you must understand that we can't just let them go. You told me you understood that, remember?"

"I didn't think she was saying that we needed to eliminate them," he replied tartly, turning away because she was making him feel like a child who didn't understand why he had to eat his vegetables, like he was being naive, but he wasn't.

Why was no one on his side in this? It was as if he was the only person in this whole damn world who cared that Donnie didn't want to do this. How did that mean he deserved Jemma's pity? If anything she deserved his because, poor Jemma, couldn't seem to see the difference between Donnie and Mackenzie.

He wondered, if he had gone down a different path, had a different life, there could have been a time when she wouldn't have been able to distinguish  _him_  from Mackenzie. He had been alone once, lost and desperate for somewhere to belong and maybe he would have joined up with the wrong crowd, gotten in over his head, maybe been a misguided super hero with self-created mechanical parts named Steel Fist. Who knew?

He could have been Donnie, if his life had gone a different way, and it hurt to think that Jemma wouldn't have been able to understand him.

/-/-/

Why was he looking at her like that? Like she was betraying him by agreeing with May. She wasn't saying she didn't care what happened to Donnie and Dave, she did, it was just that she also cared what happened to everyone else.

He knew that right? She and May weren't robots 'target acquired, threat eliminated' as Skye had once said (about May, not her). She wanted to fix this for everyone but there was no way to deny that the boys had played a part in the death of this man or that they could be involved in the death of someone else in the future.

She tried to think of something to say to him, to explain what she was feeling, but before she could he'd already moved on with Happy. It was a personal matter anyway, she decided, better to be resolved later, in private.

"So," Skye whispered, taking Leo's place beside her when he had left, "did you find anything."

Why was she so quiet? Was she getting a cold?

"I'll need to do an autopsy to be sure but I'm almost positive this man overheated," Jemma updated her. "He has a heat rash, see those bumps," she pointed at a red, bumpy patch on the man's face. "And he's drenched in sweat. That and knowing that Mackenzie's power is-"

"I meant about my powers," Skye clarified, barely audible. She looked around nervously before fixing round, pleading eyes on Jemma.

"Oh, right... yes..." Jemma replied before glancing around as Skye had done and lowering her voice. "I haven't had a chance to test the sample I took yet," she admitted a little guiltily.

Skye was probably anxious about what was happening to her, afraid, and it wasn't fair for her to have to wait so long for results, but they had a mission and it would be difficult for Jemma to work on it without being noticed by Leo or the others. Besides they'd been on their toes since she'd taken the sample and on top of that Jemma had barely seen the inside of the lab.

"That's OK," Skye assured her, though she her gaze fell and she let out a tiny sigh.

"No it isn't," Jemma replied, frowning at herself. "It isn't fair for you to have to wait so long for results when you must be at your wits end with worry- not that it's likely you have anything to worry about," she put in quickly, not wanting to frighten her. "but I haven't had the time to-"

"It's fine, really," Skye smiled reassuringly. "I'm probably going through 084 puberty or something normal for weird like that," she kidded. "nothing to be at my 'wits end' about."

Jemma chuckled with her but she still felt as if she was letting her down. To make things worse, there was a remaining sting in her gut from the way Leo had looked at her, like she was some sort of cold android, and she wasn't sure how to make him understand she only wanted what was best for everyone.

That second problem wasn't a problem, she decided. Leo always understood, would never think something like that about her. He was upset by this whole situation with Donnie, that was all.

Still she felt a frozen lump of stress in her chest which leaked icy water all across her body.

She had the mission to concentrate on, she had Skye to worry about, new rules to try to remember and now she was concerned for Leo too.

He wasn't just upset, he was becoming irrational, he was empathizing too much with Donnie, seeing himself in him and making this personal when he needed to be focused and she was worried he was going to make a mistake or worse, put himself in danger because of it.

"Fitz is taking this one pretty hard," Skye commented, following her gaze to where Leo was packing up the D.W.A.R.F.s. "I haven't seen him in denial like this since... well since Ward," she finished, her sorrow easy to hear at the mention of their former friend.

Jemma shook her head. "He needs to snap out of it," she declared, almost angrily.

"I get it though," Skye said quietly. "You want to trust people, believe they're good and maybe you even let yourself care about them but then..." she trailed off and Jemma knew she wasn't thinking of Donnie.

She placed a hand on her friends shoulder comfortingly and Skye forced a smile onto her face.

"Are you bringing him back to the Bus?" she asked, jerking her head towards Mr. Maroon.

"Yes," she replied, changing her tone as she attempted to loosen the knot in her stomach and focus on her current task.

Skye put on gloves and helped her lift the body onto the stretcher so it could be carried back, first the front part, then the legs.

"What is that?" Skye asked, pointing to a square plastic card which had been hidden beneath it.

"It's a credit card," she realized, picking it up. "But the name... Daniel Green? That isn't his name..."

"Maybe someone dropped it," Skye guessed.

"Right where Mr. Maroon fell?" Jemma asked skeptically. "No one was standing near him except for..."

"Except for Donnie and Mackenzi," Skye finished and Jemma smiled because they may have found their first lead.

/-/-/

Legs was looming over them like an angry giant and Kenzi had just killed a man by touching him for doing nothing more than running towards her. He hadn't even been armed.

Donnie's life was crashing off the tracks, he was in over his head and couldn't see a way out. He could see a way to stop them though, or at least set about the events that would.

He'd changed his mind, these people weren't any better than Shield, if anything they were worse.

Which was why, when no one was watching him, he swiftly removed the credit card from his pocket and tucked it under the man's body.

/-/-/

"They're sending in armed agents," Leo fretted, dancing around her, not put off as he usually was while she dissected the body.

The credit card was under a stolen identity. Mr. Green lived on the other side of the country and had been home when they'd contacted him, however they had tracked the card's usage to a nearby motel which he'd said he'd never even heard of. Coulson was putting together a squad of agents to take them in but they wanted to wait for the evening when David, Donnie and Mackenzie were likely to return. In a few hours they would move out.

"I know," she told him, gazing up at the x-ray on the screen. This man's insides had been baked like casserole. "They're dangerous, the agents need to protect themselves."

"Maybe I could go and talk to them," he decided. "They could give me a vest or something and send me in-"

"Are you mad?" Jemma gasped turning her attention away from her work because a jolt of panic had bolted down her spine. That was an awful idea, he could get himself killed trying that. "It's too dangerous even if Coulson would let you which I am sure-"

"But they could kill them-" Leo pointed out anxiously.

"They aren't innocent bystanders Leo," she interrupted impatiently. She needed to get this nonsense of approaching a murderous group of super-humans out of his head before he did something stupid. "This man is dead-"

"Because of MacKenzie," he said stubbornly and she let out a groan of aggravation because the last thing she need right now was for him to go into stubborn, denial mode. "Donnie and Dave didn't do anything."

"They didn't stop her," she countered.

"They didn't have time," he threw back, obviously frustrated with her.

Why was he so intent on defending them? They had made their own choices and it had led to the deaths of three people already. If he tried to talk to them that number could jump to four and that would be unacceptable. Couldn't he simply trust the other agents to do their job? They weren't going to be running in shooting first.

"Maybe they're being forced into this," he suggested unhappily. "Maybe-"

"Leo when will we you just grow up!" she hissed exasperatedly because this conversation was becoming all too familiar and he was scaring her. "You're living in a world of sunshine and rainbows-"

"Oh, yeah, that's exactly what it's like, good job Jemma-," he snapped back, reacting to her tone.

"There are bad people in the world," she asserted slowly, putting great force into her words in hopes that the message might finally sink in. "Sometimes people simply aren't going to be your friend and they aren't going to do the right thing and you're just going to have to deal with-."

"What by attacking them?" he demanded furiously. "Is that what you'd do? He's not evil he's-"

"This isn't a fairytale Fitz, it isn't only about good and evil," she argued."They're hurting people and-"

"I can stop them!" He insisted.

"No you cannot!" she shouted. "Do you really think you can walk up to them, ask nicely and they'll stop? You are such a child!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms in the air.

"I'm not- I'm not a child," he muttered, looking away.

She scoffed at him. "Immature then," she offered. "Juvenile, callow, naive, do you need more?"

"No I think I got it," he told her bitterly and she regretted her words because she knew they hit a sore spot. "You're far too grown up for someone like me aren't you? 'I'm Jemma Simmons and I'm so mature I always follow the rules and do everything according to procedure,'" he mimicked her in an unflattering voice. "'Oh no, my mistake, I'm not mature, I'm a heartless robot."

"Don't you dare," she glared at him, stung by his accusation. "I'm not... I have a heart-"

"I meant the metaphori-" he interrupted angrily.

"I know what you meant," she retorted sharply. "And if that's what you really think of me then why do you like me so much?"

"I don't know," he spat back and her anger transformed instantly into a sharp pain that cracked across her chest and made her eyes burn, which she turned away from him to hide.

"It's like having an argument with a toddler," she mumbled as she returned to work, her voice low to mask the fact that she'd started to tear up.

'He didn't mean that,' she assured herself but the lump in her stomach remained.

Leo had apparently decided he'd had enough of this conversation.

"Where are you going?" she demanded as he slid open the door but he didn't reply. "Fine," she yelled after him, she was done with this too. "Do whatever you want, I don't care."

Let him go mope pointlessly somewhere else, she wasn't going to get in his way. He wasn't her responsibility, examining this poor man's corpse was.

She didn't look to see him leave but his fading footsteps told her he was gone. Only when she couldn't hear them clapping outside did she let out a tiny sob and allow the tears to flow out of her like water from a burst dam.

/-/-/

"Where are you going?" he heard Jemma ask harshly.

'Where do you think?' he thought, rage stopping him from hearing the catch in her voice.

She thought he was living in a fairytale? That he was naive and immature?

He knew what was happening, he knew those kids were dangerous and that they had to be stopped but he also knew that they were probably scared and feeling alone and maybe even attacked.

He wasn't going to stand back and let them be injured or killed, he couldn't. They deserved a chance, at least, all they needed was someone to give it to them.

What was so crazy about that someone being him?

It only occurred to him after he had left the Bus and was driving to the location on the printout he had stolen, that the last thing he had said to her before going on this hazardous mission was that he thought she as a heartless robot.

That almost made him turn around, because if she was right... if they wouldn't listen and he really did get himself killed... she couldn't think...

No, he'd be fine and when he got back he'd tell her he loved her and that she had a heart the size of the universe, because she did, and it was breathtakingly beautiful.

If he returned now the others wouldn't allow him to leave again and he needed to do this.

Even so, the memory of his cruel words to her brought tears to his eyes and he wished he'd thought to leave a note, telling her how sorry he was, before he'd left.

/-/-/

Jemma was finished examining the body and as she threw away her gloves she'd already decided she needed to go talk to Leo.

They had both said things they hadn't meant. She knew with complete certainty he hadn't believed what he'd said. He was just angry and probably hurt by what she had said right before.

She knew he didn't believe she was heartless. He loved her, she was certain because of the way he glowed when she walked in the room and because of the fondness in his voice when he teased her, or praised her or chuckled at her. One comment didn't negate all that.

It didn't make the comment OK either though, she still wanted an apology and maybe she should tell him she was sorry too because she knew how much it got under his skin to be called immature and she'd gone a little far comparing him to a toddler. That had been the hurt striking back against him, not her head or her heart.

She only hoped he was ready to talk, he had been so angry when he'd walked out, he hadn't even told her where he was going and she searched most of the Bus before heading to his room. He must be upset to have hidden in there, if he was crying he wouldn't have wanted anyone to see.

She knocked on the door to it now, expecting a reply when she called his name, but instead was met with silence.

"Leo," she said, knocking again gently. "I just want to talk, can you please come out?"

Silence. Was he even in there?

"I'll come in," she warned because the door wasn't locked. "You can't keep ignoring me, we need to talk about this. I'll come in, I swear, rules or no rules we need to discuss it."

He didn't reply but he didn't lock the door either.

She would break the rules, if she had too, it wasn't as if she was going in there to make out with him. She'd open that door and go into forbidden territory if that was what it took to get him to listen, but that wasn't exactly plan A.

"I'm sorry," she told him, her voice quavering slightly as she spoke. "Is that what you want? I know you're sorry too, I know you didn't mean what you said."

Was he listening, tuning her out or simply not there? She'd be really embarrassed if she was pouring her heart out to an empty room but where else would he have gone? She'd checked everywhere.

"You didn't mean what you said right?" she inquired anxiously. Of course he didn't. "Why are you being so ridiculous? Stop being ridiculous and talk to me." The final words came out almost as an order and she cursed herself because she knew being confrontational was not going to make him open up.

"What are you doing?" Trip asked, a cup of coffee in his hands as he passed her. "Are you talking to him from behind the door? You're taking this whole 'new rules' thing kinda seriously don't you think? I mean I'm sure you could open-" he stopped as he noticed her expression. "What's going on?" he asked softly and she wondered if her eyes were red and bright from crying earlier.

She wiped them reactively, trying to hide the leftovers of her tears, realizing too late she'd likely brought attention to them.

"He...we... he won't talk to me," she mumbled casting her eyes downwards.

"That's because he's not in there," Trip told her, smiling like he'd just solved her problem. "Don't be sad, he isn't ignoring you... maybe you should ease up on how closely you follow those rules Coulson gave you, you're allowed to open the door to check if he's inside. Especially if it's going to cause confusion and-"

"What do you mean he isn't in there?" she interrupted, what he had said sinking in slowly because it didn't make sense. "I've been searching for him all over, there's nowhere else he could be."

"He's not in there, I went in to grab some of his pretzels a few minutes ago," Trip insisted. "Don't worry, he said it was alright, he lets me go in his room because sometimes we trade snacks," he explained, misinterpreting the way her eyes grew large and her face froze. "Simmons why are you looking at me like that... did you put something in the pretzels? Awww man really Simmons? Again? What were they some sort of experiment? I was sure he said it was the pretzels I could take... or was it the Pringles? Is this going to be like that time with the milk? Simmons, seriously, you need to keep things you add stuff to in the lab."

"Oh no," she breathed, finally understanding what had happened.

"Are you kidding me?" Trip sighed. "Oh great...What was in the pretzels? Do I need to go get an antiserum or something?"

"What? No... there's nothing... you're fine," she assured him quickly and he let out a sigh of relief before his concern returned.

"What's going on then?" he wondered.

Jemma was beginning to think that maybe she was the naive one, believing Leo would stay on the Bus, that he'd go back to his room. That he wouldn't try to do anything stupid.

"He's gone," she said, shaking her head. "He's gone to try to talk to Donnie."

She met Trip's eyes and she saw by the way her own alarm was reflected in them that he understood.

Why had she thought their argument had talked him out of it? What part of 'you're immature and naive, don't go,' had been convincing? None of it, but she hadn't thought he'd actually go anywhere. She hadn't thought he'd be reckless enough to really strike out on his own to try asking a group of super-humans with a history of violence to please stop robbing people.

Clearly she'd underestimated him.

/-/-/

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The "not exactly plan A" is a reference to Mal in the movie Serenity. Someone asks him if he is willing to die for his belief and he says "Yes... but it's not exactly plan A"
> 
> The Fringe reference is the messed with milk. In the third season episode The Firefly, Peter (once again eating things in the lab) drinks some milk which Walter has put something in and almost dies. I don't think this milk incident was so scary... probably just a tummy ache or something.
> 
> I think that was the longest I ever had Trip talk in a story, or at least it was the hardest for me to write because I really don't know his character as well as the others because he is new but not one episode new like Donnie (where I can get away with adding traits that aren't there). Feel free to tell me if he was a bit out of character.
> 
> Also the 'target aquired, threat eliminated' thing was said to Ward by Skye, not to Jemma but I figured maybe Jemma heard about or she said it to her too at one point.


	5. A Second Chance

They were back at the motel and Legs was counting the bills alongside several other higher up members of their team.

"You did good you three," he praised. "Even if things got a bit messy." He cast his gave sternly on Kenzi who looked away, fearful of someone for once and he laughed. "Lighten up kid, at least now we know you can get your hands dirty." he jested and she gave him a half smile.

"Dave did you want to... get some air," Donnie offered in a hushed voice to his teammate who sat on a chair beside him.

"You OK?" Dave asked him, concerned.

He must have been showing how nervous he was, which wasn't too out of the ordinary for someone who had robbed a bank recently, however he didn't want the others to be suspicious so he forced an easygoing smile.

"I'm just feeling a bit shut in," he improvised.

"I get it," Dave assured him, even though he didn't. "I could go for a walk. Hey, can we take a walk?" He asked Legs. "This place stinks, literally stinks and it's making Blizzard wanna hurl."

"Don't go too far," Legs instructed, waving them away without turning his attention from the money.

Donnie and Dave walked down the quiet street in silence for a few blocks before Donnie felt safe enough to speak.

"Shield is going to find us," he warned him quietly.

"Oh c'mon Donnie, stop worrying," Dave objected, laughing at him like he was being silly.

"Dave I left my credit card at the bank," he stated flatly. "They're going to find us."

"What?!" Dave exclaimed, before gazing around fretfully and lowering his voice. "What the hell-"

"Do you really think that what happened back at the bank was OK?" Donnie demanded.

Dave was a friend, almost anyway, and Donnie wanted to help him, he wanted to believe that he wasn't like the others. He was kind, he could be a good person if he had the courage to, to say no to these people like Donnie was trying to do. he deserved a chance to make the right decision even if it meant Donnie taking a huge risk.

He sighed and turned away, "It's... it isn't that simple," he mumbled.

"It is though," Donnie persisted. "We can leave, go somewhere else. We can-"

"You little traitor!" Someone snarled behind them.

It was Legs, he had followed them.

He pointed at Dave. "You, get back to the others," he barked. "And you-"

But he didn't have time to finish because Donnie bolted, leaving both of them behind.

'Coward,' he scolded himself, but he kept running.

Dave would be fine, he wasn't the one in trouble.

Donnie dashed into a nearby motel, crummier than even the one they'd been staying at before and hopefully empty of guests.

"Help, call the police!" he shouted at the man at the reception desk but Legs leapt over Donnie and snapped the man's neck and Donnie ran on even though he knew he couldn't escape.

All he'd done was get someone else killed and he hated himself for it. He'd done so much harm, maybe he deserved this, but he was terrified and he kept going, trying to reach the exit on the other side of the room.

Legs cut him off, blocking the door and he skidded to a halt. The giant man brought up a fist to strike him and Donnie flinched, expecting a blow before someone grabbed Legs' arm and jumped onto his back like a monkey.

Legs took him by the scruff of his shirt him and threw him off but the distraction had been enough to give Donnie time to think and he froze Legs solid.

"Fitz?" he gasped, recognizing the man who was struggling to his feet.

"Oww," he replied. "Good, you remember me."

Of course he remembered him, he'd know about him since before he'd met him, everyone at the academy knew Fitz and Simmons.

"What are you doing here?" he exclaimed. "Why did you-"

"I followed you, from the other motel," he explained, grinning at him. "I heard what you said. You want out do you?"

Donnie nodded before the ice surrounding Legs cracked and he shook himself out.

No one needed to tell either of them to scramble away and they dashed together through the motel, trying to find a place to hide.

They turned left at the end of the Hall and Legs went right, not seeing them, giving them time to double back to the entrance but the centipede soldier had made his way around the building and was lurking outside the door.

The two of them managed to scramble underneath a desk before he saw them, but they were trapped.

"Where are the others?" he whispered. "Don't you have a team?"

"I came on my own," Fitz let him know, shaking his head. "They didn't... they were going to send in armed agents but I wanted to talk to you."

"Why?" Donnie wondered, confused.

"Because you don't seem like you want to be doing this," Fitz reasoned. "And I didn't want you or David getting hurt."

Dave... he better be OK. He better not be dead too because of Donnie.

There was a crash as the door was kicked off it's hinges. Donnie thought that was a waste of energy and materials, it hadn't even been locked, however his stomach squeezed and a chill ran down his spine at the loud noise. Legs was coming, he'd find them and then he'd kill them.

"When I tell you, run to the door, go get help," Fitz instructed but Donnie didn't understand.

"I can't make it... h-he'll see me," he fretted, shaking with fear. That was a horrible idea, how had Leopold Fitz come up with it?

"No, no he won't, he'll be focusing on me," Fitz assured him, placing a hand on his shoulder and his plan suddenly made awful sense.

"I can't ask you to-" he tried to protest but Fitz cut him off.

"You don't have to ask me, I can do the math," he let him know determinedly. "It isn't difficult, I have more time than you. They need me alive, they'll question me-"

"They'll torture you," Donnie corrected. This wasn't right, he couldn't let him do this.

"It's either that or we both die," he reminded him grimly and Donnie shook his head.

"I can be the distraction," he offered, not sure when he'd become so bold, all he knew was that he couldn't stand to let anyone else die because of him.

"You know you can't," Fitz objected as if he was being ridiculous. "They don't need you alive, they'll kill you."

"Who cares about me," he muttered, looking away.

"I care about you," Fitz insisted and Donnie met his gaze, shocked. "Now stop arguing with me and go get help, and hurry up I don't have a very high threshold for... well..." he gulped. "Just hurry up."

"Fitz-" Donnie tried to grab his arm but he shook him off and began to rise to his feet.

"Tell Simmons I didn't mean it," he said quickly, taking a breath, steeling himself before he leapt over the desk. "Hey, you creepy bugman!" he taunted. "I bet you can't catch me, even with all those... legs!"

He was joking, he was facing the possibility of a horrible death and he was joking. Donnie realized that, even if he no longer wanted to be a Shield agent, he wanted to be more like Fitz. He wanted to be brave and good like that, but first he had to save him so gathered his courage and sprung over the desk, racing towards the door.

Kenzi appeared in his way, stopping him with a hand on his chest and he flinched, expecting to be burned up like the man at the bank but something fast and spinning hit her, sending her flying away and crashing into the wall.

"Dave?" he gasped.

"We need to get out of here," he said, taking Donnie's arm and pulling him out the door as Kenzi struggled to her feet.

"We need to find Shield," he panted as he ran.

"Have you lost your mind?" Dave exclaimed breathlessly, a bit ahead of him.

"They have Fitz," he explained.

"That's not our prob-" Dave began.

"Yes it is," Donnie declared forcefully. "He saved my life and he's a good man. We can't leave him there."

"Geez Donnie, you've got too big a conscious for your own good," Dave muttered and he grumbled before adding, "fine, let's go find Shield."

/-/-/

Jemma and her team were at the motel which Donnie, Kenzi and David had been staying at. The area had been evacuated and a back up team was on its way but they had to move in immediately before it was too late.

"Wait here," Coulson ordered as Jemma reached for the bullet proof vest.

She shook her head stubbornly. "No, I'm coming. If he's hurt he'll need me-"

"He'll need you alive," May finished. "It's too dangerous, wait here."

"I'm not scared," she protested. "I can-"

"Wait. Here." May repeated firmly, and she realized she was wasting time, holding them up, so she nodded.

"I mean it Simmons," Coulson warned and she met his eyes before nodding again.

"If you need me-" she began.

"We'll call you," he assured her. "But we need you here for now to steer the two D.W.A.R.F.s. Stay here, stay safe, and be ready."

"I will," she vowed. "Go get him out of there."

"We're on it," Trip grinned encouragingly and Skye smiled confidently at her before they left the truck.

She watched her teammates go and struggled with the compulsive need to follow, to charge in there and rescue him.

They were right, it was too dangerous. She was irrational, feeling reckless and that wouldn't be helpful at all. They weren't just worried she wasn't yet cleared for combat (not cleared for combat, what a joke, she'd seen plenty of combat and come through) they were concerned she was going to do something crazy.

She felt a little crazed, jittery and jumpy and terrified, her mind flashing through worst case scenarios which she attempted to block out because they were feeding her insanity.

"We have them surrounded," Skye told her quietly over the coms. "I don't see Fitz," Jemma felt sick with fear because she hadn't found him either, he wasn't appearing on either of the monitors. "Maybe he's further inside."

She couldn't reply, it was taking everything she had to stay put, as Coulson had instructed, and there was no effort left for words.

Then the coms went dead and the drones stopped communicating with the monitors right before the sound of gunfire and she lost it completely.

"Skye? Trip? anyone?" she shouted, receiving only static.

Now they could all be in danger and there was no way she was going to wait in a truck while her team and her beloved needed her.

Grabbing an ICER and the vest, which she hastily buckled on, she opened the door and collided with Donnie in her rush to get out.

"What the-" she exclaimed, knocked on her butt, before scooping up the ICER and pointing it him. "What have you done with Fitz?" she snarled. "Where is he?"

"Hey, don't point that thing at us," another man objected, offended.

She looked to her left to seem him standing over her and darted the ICER from Donnie to him and then back to Donnie again, unsure what to do.

"You need to come with us," Donnie announced.

"That isn't really how this works-" she argued.

"They have Fitz," Donnie informed her impatiently. "They have him somewhere else, close by."

"How can I believe you?" she demanded, narrowing her eyes.

"You don't have a choice," Donnie asserted and she scoffed at him. "Simmons, please listen to me, I know-..." he took a breath. "They're going to hurt him... they're probably doing it now and then they're going to kill him."

"They're hurting him?" she whispered, fear clawing its way up he spine and he nodded, holding her gaze.

She didn't know if it was because what he said stabbed knives into her stomach or if it was because he seemed sincere in his concern, but she made a decision to trust him.

"Bloody hell," she swore, thinking this was probably a mistake but not knowing what else to do. "Here, there are more ICERs in the truck," she handed one to each of them. "It's a stun gun," she let them know. "It wont kill anyone, just knock them out, so you shoot if you have to. We don't have time to get the others they're..." her heart ached from another stab of worry, "...busy... and I can't communicate with them."

"That's my fault," Donnie admitted as they broke into a run and she followed behind him and the other man.

"Of course it is," she muttered angrily.

How much trouble could one person cause?

/-/-/

Legs threw him again and he landed on one of the pool chairs, breaking it underneath him and becoming tangled in the cracked plastic, the wind knocked out of him.

Oww...

It wasn't so bad, he told himself, he'd been beat up before... not by anyone with super strength, but still it was better than having his fingers cut off or one of the other frightening things action movies had taught him about. Action movies and the academy.

Better, but it still hurt.

Whose idea was it to plant hedges around the pool area? How badly did the guests need privacy while swimming? If they'd just left it open maybe someone would see him and help.

Or they'd be doing this inside.

He struggled to sit up but Legs pushed him down with his foot, pressing on his chest until he could barely breath and threatening to break his ribs.

"I'm not...telling...anything," he choked out defiantly, hoping Legs wasn't about to take out the finger chopper... whatever that was.

"You will," Legs said, stomping down on him and almost making him pass out.

He heard a disturbing crack and it hurt to breathe.

How was he suppose to tell him anything if he couldn't talk? The brute.

He backed away and Leo tried to sit up but pain seared across his body when the muscles in his chest and abdomen contracted and he fell back down, unable to free himself from the chair.

"Why don't we try warming him up a bit?" Legs suggested to Mackenzie, who'd been watching uneasily a short distance away.

"Don't you want him to talk?" she asked, raising her eyebrows. "I'll probably kill him if I try what I did at the bank."

"Can't you slow it down?" he demanded challengingly. "Go on, if you want to stop Shield you need to get your hands dirty, I know you can."

Leo remembered the man at the bank and was filled with terror. Where the hell was Donnie with help?

She hesitated, gazing unhappily at Leo and he wondered if maybe this was too far for her.

"You better try it or it'll be you I throw into a chair next," Legs threatened and she gave a little start before nodding and approaching them.

"Don't," Leo pleaded, trying again to sit up, to squirm away, however he was still tangled in the chair and pain shot across his chest again.

"Talk then," she said coldly, kneeling down beside him. "Where is the new sandbox?"

He shook his head and she looked to Legs for direction.

"Go on then," he ordered impatiently and Mackenzi placed a hand on his stomach.

/-/-/

Donnie and David led her to another motel a few blocks away which seemed, if anything, more run down than the first had been.

They searched the building, Jemma biting her tongue to stop herself from calling out to Leo, until David called them over, he'd found them in the pool area.

There was a man standing over Leo, who appeared to have been smashed into one of the pool chairs, and Mackenzie knelt beside him, pressing a hand against him in a terrifyingly familiar way.

'No you don't,` she thought furiously, shoving her way through the door, aiming the ICER and managing to hit her body, knocking her unconscious.

The man started towards her but Donnie froze his feet to the ground, slowing him before shooting him with his own ICER several times and knocking him unconscious as well.

Jemma dashed towards Leo and saw, to her horror, that she'd been too late to stop Mackenzie.

He was burning up, red faced and sweating. At least he could still sweat, at least he hadn't heated up beyond the point where his body could produce it, but she knew that was coming.

"David, go get help," she shouted firmly. "Donnie, stay here, I'll need you."

David bolted away while she knelt beside Leo and gently lifting him up out of the broken plastic.

"J-...Jemma..." he stuttered, gasping in air, staring up at her, all the words he hadn't the strength to say dancing behind his eyes.

"It's OK," she soothed, dragging him towards the pool. "I've got you, you're going to be aright."

"I- I'm..." he was struggling to speak, to keep his eyes open.

"Shhh," she whispered, smoothing his hair gently and they closed.

Jemma was so scared they were never going to open again, so frightened he wouldn't wake up but she couldn't let it overwhelm her now. She needed to be strong, be brave for him.

"Make me as much ice as you can," she ordered Donnie, pulling Leo into the water and holding him up in the shallow end. "But don't freeze us," she warned fiercely because she still didn't entirely trust him.

"I won't," he promised, turning portions of the pool water solid and then breaking the ice up into chunks before pushing it towards them.

This was buying them time but it wasn't stopping what was happening to him, the water around them wasn't cooling him off fast enough, it was as if he had heater inside of him countering its effects.

She carefully splashed some of the water over his face, he was no longer sweating, his body wasn't able to cool itself anymore.

He opened his eyes and stared up at her dazedly.

"There you are," she cooed, smiling at him and wetting her hand to run over his face again, it was so hot it warmed the droplets immediately. "You can stop now," she told Donnie, raising her head for a brief moment before looking back down at Leo, because the water around them was making her shiver it had grown so cold.

They didn't want the blood vessels next to the surface of his skin to constrict in reaction to it, that could slow down heat loss and he needed to lose this heat quickly.

He was reaching up to her, trying to say something.

"It's OK," she soothed, keeping his face and hair wet while holding them above the water by splashing it onto him. "We're cooling you off, don't worry."

She was lying, they weren't cooling him off they were merely preventing him from continuing to heat up but she didn't know what else to do, she didn't know what else to say.

He was trying to move again and she took his wrist to place his arm gently back in the water.

"Sit still," she insisted however the second she let go he attempted to reach up again and she let him in hopes he would stop struggling once he did what he wanted to do. Hyperthermia could cause strange behaviour, disorientation, and she wondered if that was what this was.

He pressed his hand against her chest, over her heart and he stared into her eyes, his own filled with what could have been regret but also with love and she understood immediately.

"The meta-" he said weakly as his hand fell slowly back into the water.

"I know what you mean," she assured him softly, lifting him to kiss his face before spreading more water onto it.

He gave her such a small smile his mouth barely moved but it was all in his eyes anyway and she smiled back before he closed them and her vision blurred from her tears.

She didn't know what to do, whatever was happening to him she didn't know how to stop it, didn't know how to put out the flames that were burning him up.

The only thing she knew for sure would stop it was when it finally killed him. Mr. Maroon's body had been as cold as any corpse.

'Think!' she commanded herself. 'There has to be something, something here you can use.'

She'd done everything she knew how to do though, except remove the source of the heat. Which was important, vitally important, but seemingly impossible.

It was invisible, inside of him, almost like wicked magic. The truth was, she had no idea how Mackenzie's powers worked, no idea how to save him.

He was so warm, too warm, a sharp contrast against the cold water, and he was getting warmer. He'd fallen unconscious again and she knew they were running out of time.

"No," she sobbed helplessly, her tears dripping onto him, cooler than his skin.

/-/-/

Donnie didn't know what Fitz's gesture meant but Simmons did so it didn't really matter. He waded into the pool, staying back a few feet, watching, but neither of them noticed him there.

Fitz was dying, the water, the ice, it wasn't working and he was going to die.

It wasn't fair, he was good person, a kind person, one of the only people who had ever cared about Donnie. He'd cared enough to risk his life to save him and now he was paying the price.

He had to do something, anything but he didn't know what he could do. There was nothing they could do. Simmons knew it, he could see it in her eyes as she stared into Fitz's face, she knew she was losing him.

"No," he heard her say, barely loud enough to reach him. It was like an echo of his own desperate shout almost a year ago and he couldn't watch this anymore so he turned his attention to the water, feebly freezing chunks of ice and pushing them towards them.

Gazing down at his hands he suddenly had an idea and he waded forward to kneel beside them.

Simmons was shivering, and crying, tiny sobs escaping her, and she didn't acknowledge his presence until he placed his hands on Fitz and her head snapped up, eyes blazing.

"Get away from us," she hissed, pulling both of them backwards. "Haven't you done enough already? Just...just leave us alone."

"I can help," he insisted, ignoring the venom in her words even as it burned him.

"How?" she demanded, fury and desperation melded together.

"I can cool him down, trust me," he pleaded.

She stared into his eyes, her own filled with misery before they blazed again with the same determination she'd had moments before. "Do it then," she commanded.

Donnie placed his hands over Fitz again, one on his shoulder and one on his stomach and concentrated.

Not too cold, he didn't want to hurt him. He soon realized too cold wasn't going to be an issue as he fought the heat searing out of him, trying to extinguish it.

It was working, he was cooling down and now his skin no longer felt as if a flame were lit beneath it. He opened his eyes again and looked between Donnie and Simmons and he smiled at Donnie before his gaze caught on her remained there.

Simmons choked out a short laugh of relief and pressed her forehead against Fitz's.

"I love you," he murmured with difficulty. "I'm so sorry..."

"Me too," she whispered softly. "I love you too sweetheart." She lifted her head for a moment and smiled at Donnie. "Thank you." she told him gratefully.

"I'm glad he's OK," he answered.

When he finished, when the heater had been snuffed out, Donnie drew back to view the rewards of his efforts.

Simmons pulled Fitz out of the water and cradled him against her, whispering things to him while she stroked his cheek which lit his face with a smile that was almost surprising to see on someone whose insides had been broiling only a minute ago. They looked so happy together, content with one another's presence. Donnie thought that maybe he would have been a little jealous of that closeness if Fitz hadn't just risked everything to save him. There were people in this world who could care about him, good people inhabiting the planet, and that was enough for now.

Simmons lifted Fitz up to kiss him, on the mouth this time, truly surprising Donnie. That was new... maybe... what did he know? Maybe it had been there the whole time, he'd met them only once.

It felt like something private, that he shouldn't be watching but he didn't know what else to do until Simmons looked up and raised an eyebrow at him.

"Why are you still here?" she wondered, no longer hostile.

"Y-you want me to... what?" he stammered but she had turned her attention back to Fitz whose eyes had closed again, his head resting against her and he realized she was letting him go.

Fitz was sleeping but he'd be fine, Donnie was sure of it. He would be fine and Donnie really did need to go if he didn't want to be taken back into Shield custody again.

So he climbed out of the pool and, after one last look behind him at the two of them to see that Simmons was making a point of ignoring him, of not seeing what he was doing, he ran away from the motel. He didn't know where he was running to, somewhere new.

Fitz and Simmons had given him a chance, given him an opportunity to start a new life, something better, he hoped.

/-/-/

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh yeah! There is one more chapter because not everything has been resolved yet.
> 
> The Fringe reference is the line "Who care's about me?" and the response "I care about you." In the first season episode Bound, Peter is worrying about Olivia because she just escaped being kidnapped and she says the first part (because she is distracted by the case) to which he responds with the second part.
> 
> The last line of the chapter was based on the quote from the finale where Simmons is talking about what happens after you die and says "...we gave them new life, a good one, I hope."
> 
> I think the whole 'how cold should the water be' thing is debatable (according to wiki, I also found an article that said 2 degree Celsius water was good for cooling) but it is true that the blood vessels next to the surface of your skin contract when something cold is against it .


	6. Thank You

"You disobeyed a direct order, went along with the plan of a known felon, placed yourself in the middle of combat... again," Coulson was reprimanding her.

Jemma stood in his office, listening to his lecture. He was glad Leo was OK but he'd had things to say to the both of them after what had happened.

"Sir, Fitz was-" she defended.

"Don't worry, I've talked to Fitz," he let her know, shaking his head. "He's lucky to be alive. That was an incredibly stupid... stupid idea he had."

"You don't need to tell me that," she agreed.

"And do you two have any idea how much paper work it is for me when you guys pull stunts like that?" He lamented, seeming as if he was imagining said paperwork with dread. "And on top of everything else, both Donnie and David managed to escape, we have no idea where they are."

"I'm sorry sir, really I am, but I don't regret what I did," she admitted boldly. "If I hadn't gone with Donnie and David Fitz would be dead. I would do it again if I had to."

Jemma expected to be scolded for her words but she knew she needed to be honest with their leader. If he was going to make decisions for their team he had to know where each of his members stood. He needed to understand that order or no order, danger or no danger, if Leo was in trouble and he needed her she would go to him. Maybe that was a weakness, maybe it made her weak to care so much about someone, but she'd rather have Leo than have that sort of strength.

To her surprise, Coulson nodded and told her, "Me too." Her eyebrows rose as he continued. "We look out for each other, we protect each other. That's part of being a team, part of what makes us strong. What we don't do is go behind each other's backs and take off on our own to confront dangerous suspects, but, like I said, I've already spoken with Fitz."

He frowned in soundless disapproval for a minute and Jemma wondered if he was finished.

"May I-" she began slowly.

"You want to go see him?" he guessed, his expression softening and she nodded. "Hold on, I have one more thing for you first. It's not six pages but," he paused as he opened his drawer and pulled out a short document. "I wrote up those rules you wanted."

"Thank you sir!" she chirped, beaming at him as he handed them over.

"I thought it'd make you feel better to have them written down," he smiled back. "You've seemed pretty stressed out lately," he commented. "Was it only about this or is there something you need to tell me?"

"No, no... nothing at all," she lied nervously, thinking of Skye. "I'm...," she laughed uncomfortably. "Stressed out... I was...worried about Fitz that's all."

He didn't look as if he believed her, but he let it go.

"We'll if there is something else I'll be in here... doing that paper work," he sighed, sitting down. "And remember, you can go into Fitz's room until he's feeling better but after that... well... I did give you a manual, maybe give it a read through."

/-/-/

Leo was playing on his gameboy when she entered his room, deep in concentration as he combated whatever villain his game had thrown at him.

"Eat that you wicked ugly devil," he was muttering under his breath. "You're no match for Steel Fist. Pow! Pow!"

Jemma cleared her throat and he snapped his head towards her, pink as the inside of a grapefruit.

"Er... I... how long where you...?" he wondered nervously.

"Long enough Steel Fist," she teased, beaming at him, her gaze brimming with affection as she sat down on the side of his bed next to him, placing the document on his bedside table, and kissed him. "How are you feeling sweetheart?" she asked softly, stroking his cheek.

He paused his game and set it to the side before kissing her again. "OK. It hurts a little still," he admitted, referring to his broken rib.

"I brought you some more painkillers," she said, pulling out the tiny bottle from her pocket and pouring two out into his hand before reaching for his water bottle and handing it to him.

"Thanks," he said, once he had swallowed them and she smiled at him.

He leaned his head against the front of her shoulder, eyes closed and she kissed the top of it as she carefully wrapped her arms around him. Then she leaned her face against his hair and held him silently, marveling at how frighteningly, wonderfully, precious he was to her.

"The reasons are innumerable you know," he announced quietly after a minute. "I think we'd be here all day if I tried to tell you every reason why I love you."

"There are so many reasons," she agreed. "I could never list them all either."

She kissed his face before reaching onto the desk and taking the document.

"We do have a list we need to go through though," she told him, holding it out in front of them.

"Mmm," he replied, closing his eyes again.

"Or not," she chuckled.

"Those pills makes me drowsy," he complained. "And I still feel a little strange from... well, you know, being broiled."

"Sleep then," she whispered, returning the papers to the desk and rubbing his shoulder until she heard his breathing become steady.

Then she carefully lay him back down on his pillow and kissed his eyebrows lightly.

"Thanks Jemma," he mumbled sleepily.

"Sweet dreams," she murmured, tucking him in but he was asleep again.

She tried not to be too disappointed that he was sleeping through the whole time she was allowed in his room. It wasn't that they would do anything beyond cuddling together, they respected the rules their leader had put in place, but she had been enjoying the privacy it gave them.

At least now that he was occupied by his dreams (and snoring a little) she could finally figure out what was happening with Skye, and besides he needed to rest if he wanted to get better.

She placed one more loving kiss between his eyes, soaked through with the marvelous joy of having him as her second heart, before quietly rising, shutting the light and leaving to finish her tests.

/-/-/

A few hours later, Jemma and Skye were in the lab, discussing what Jemma had found out about her condition.

"You're perfectly fine," she told Skye happily, showing her findings for the final test. "All your results are completely normal... well almost," she chuckled as Skye made made Jemma's pen fly out of her pocket and float above her head, wobbling a little as it did so.

"I could be the world's greatest pick pocket," Skye kidded, and they both giggled. "Or I could move to Vegas and reel in the cash with my magic show, watch out David Copperfield."

"Watch out indeed," Jemma mused, delighted with her friend's new upbeat attitude towards her powers. "Now... If you'd like, I can move on to puzzling out how it works."

"How's Fitz?" Skye asked, changing the subject.

Jemma frowned, a little disappointed, but didn't push it. They knew Skye was alright and that was enough. Anything else was her extra, a fascinating new mystery to solved, but extra and Jemma was sure she'd come to her when she was ready.

"He's fine," she let her know. "Still a little sore, my poor brave sweetheart," she fussed, remembering how bruised up he was. "He's sleeping now."

"Jemma?" Leo's voice called over the walkie talkie on her desk.

She'd taken it in case he needed anything,

"Or maybe not," she mused, reaching for it and flipping the switch. "How are you doing?" she asked. "Need any more water?"

"No, I'm fine, thanks," he assured her, quickly, clearly distracted by something. "I was looking over the document Coulson gave us."

Skye gave her a questioning look but didn't make a sound and Jemma guessed she didn't want Leo to know she was there.

"I don't understand rule number five, we aren't together on a mission?" he worried. "I mean is that during the whole mission? Even when we aren't working? Because we're always on a mission, that would be horrible. I can't imagine never being able to kiss your sweet, lovely face. Or hold your soft, perfect hands or-"

"I'm a little busy at the moment, can we talk about this later?" she requested, blushing as Skye wiggled her eyebrows, grinning.

"Oh, you are? What are you doing?" he wondered, surprised.

"Umm... I'm... it's..." Jemma fumbled. 'Think of something, anything,' she ordered herself but she was drawing a blank. "I was... preparing... lobster, no, no... spaghetti... in the lab- umm- the kitchen... and-"

"She was running some tests on me," Skye interjected, raising her voice so she would be heard over the walkie talkies. "I have super powers, like, Carrie without the pig's blood or something, and Simmons wanted to make sure I was OK."

There was a long silence before he spoke again and Skye bit her lip, confidence fading to be replaced by apprehension as Jemma stared at her incredulously, mouth hanging open.

"So what where the results? Are you OK?" he finally asked, concerned and Skye grinned at the source of his voice.

"She's perfectly fine," Jemma assured him, smiling too.

"What sort of powers do you have?" he inquired curiously. "Pig's blood? I don't get it... how did you..." there was another pause. "Can I come see?"

"You're suppose to be resting," Jemma chided, crossing her arms even though he couldn't see. "Why are you up reading documents and worrying over rules?"

"But I want to see," he protested.

"I think I'm ready to show everyone anyway," Skye told them, amused. "And it's not like he's really going to go back to sleep."

"I guess not," Jemma agreed, shooting the walkie talkie a disapproving look.

"Stop scowling at me Jemma," he complained and Skye giggled as Jemma rolled her eyes. "I'm not tired, and you can't just expect me to take a nap instead of going to the meeting. Skye has... wow." He seemed impressed, shocked, taken aback.

"We should go get the others," Skye suggested, taking a deep breath and looking like she was volunteering to walk through a field of poison ivy.

Jemma took her hand comfortingly.

"You'll be fine," she soothed. "You're still Skye, they'll understand."

Her friend nodded. "Yeah... you're right, besides Coulson and May already knew I was an 084, they just didn't know..."

"You'd hit puberty?" Jemma offered and they giggled together.

"What's happening?" Leo demanded because he could only hear them when someone flicked the switch.

Skye picked up the Walkie talkie. "Meet us in the sitting room," she instructed.

"C'mon," Jemma said, pulling her behind her. "Let's go gather them up."

/-/-/

"Mantis would beat Batman in a fight, easy," Trip was arguing with Leo as Skye and Jemma entered the room.

"Mantis?" Leo scoffed. "You mean the insect? Bats eat insects!"

"That's your argument?" Trip chuckled and Leo made a face at him. "Mantis is a superhero, just like batman."

"Except not as good," Leo asserted and Trip nudged him good naturedly.

"Only according to you," he protested.

"According to everyone," Leo countered. "Raise your hand if you've heard of Mantis," he challenged the group, however no one was paying attention and not a single hand was raised. "See my point?" he said smugly.

"I see that no one else cares about this conversation," Trip teased and Leo rolled his eyes.

Skye cleared her throat and the room fell silent.

"Hey, umm," she began hesitantly and Leo gave her an encouraging smile along with a thumbs up.

He'd been shocked to hear his friend had super powers, however, in a world filled with Gods and men who turned giant, green and unstoppable when they were angry, it wasn't the strangest thing he'd ever heard. And if anyone could handle having powers it was Skye, he knew she would use them for good, whatever they were. He'd been trying to figure it out for the past half hour as the team had gathered together, but he was still groggy from his pain medication and he couldn't understand what she was going to do with the pig's blood.

She began by explaining where she had come from, news to Leo and Trip but seemingly a familiar story to May and Coulson who nodded along.

"Until recently that was all I knew," she said, glancing nervously at Jemma who nodded at her to continue. "But a few weeks ago I found out... I discovered I could... well do this." she informed them, holding a pen out in the palm of her hand and, impossibly, causing it to fly into the air, floating in front of her face.

She zoomed it around the room, passing each of her teammates and they all stared at her, eyes wide, in silence.

"Huh," Coulson finally remarked, watching interestedly as Skye made the pen dance around.

"Cool," Trip added.

"How does it work?" Leo wanted to know.

"We could use that in your training," May commented, likely thinking of new tricks for the telekintic field agent. "If you're comfortable with that." She added and Skye nodded, smiling fondly at her.

"I'd be up for some psychic slammin'," she joked and they all laughed.

They surrounded her, asking her questions and requesting she make the pen do various tricks which she sometimes struggled to comply with, obviously not entirely in control yet.

This was all knew and maybe a little scary for her but she had her team, her family. She wasn't alone in this and Leo new she would be OK.

/-/-/

A week later Leo received an email from an unfamiliar sender with the subject 'I hope you're cool'.

He knew who it was from before he opened it.

'Hey Fitz,' it read. 'I wanted to thank you, seriously thank you, for what you did for me. I don't think many other people would have believed in me like that, and I know even fewer would risk so much to save someone they only met once, but I am starting to see that there people out there who want to help me.

I went home, not for long, I am still wanted by Shield, but long enough to see my parents. My mom cried and my dad cried too, I wasn't expecting that. I think I really scared them when I disappeared and even though they were mad at me I know that they care.

I'm going back to school, under a fake name and I can't tell you where but let's just say it's my field of choice. You probably don't know him, but agent Adams wrote me a letter of reference and Dave helped me change my name in it so I could get in under my new alias. It doesn't really feel like breaking the rules, the letter is for me anyway, agent Adams kept his promise, what does it matter what the name is? I'm me, whatever I'm called and I know what I want to do with my life now.

I want to learn, expand on what I know, improve the world and use my skills (all of them) to help people. I want to be more like you.

My life is better now, I like to think that I've become a better person and I have you to thank for that.

I hope you're doing well and I'm sorry for all the trouble I caused

-D.

P.S. Do not try to contact me through this address, I am never using this account again, they could find me if I do.'

Jemma read the email with him, her arms around his shoulders and her cheek pressed against his, making him feel safe and loved and the complete opposite of alone.

He was glad, that Donnie was doing so well and he hoped he'd be careful, that Shield wouldn't find him, which was an incredibly strange thought for a Shield agent to have but his thought nonetheless.

"I'm proud of you," Jemma told him softly, kissing his cheek, before standing up. "You were right," she admitted. "He deserved a second chance. I hope he really does bring some good into the world."

"He will," Leo said confidently. "I know he will."

/-/-/

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Fringe reference is Mantis. He is the alternate universe version of Batman and two of the show's characters actually do have a debate over which one is better (I think it is Lincoln and altLincoln).
> 
> I still try to spell drowsy like drowzee. Pokemon, what have you done to me haha.


End file.
